DA seeks change of venue for Vassell

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (AP) - Prosecutors want the trial of a former University of Massachusetts student charged with stabbing two men moved to another jurisdiction because they say the defense is making it impossible to find a fair jury.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported that Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris asked a judge on Thursday to move Jason Vassell's case out of Hampshire County.

Vassell, who is black, is accused of stabbing two white men in his UMass dorm last February.

His lawyers say he acted in self defense after the men broke his dorm window and racially taunted him.

Dunphy Farris said defense lawyers and Vassell's supporters have distributed sensitive information about the case to the media to infect the jury pool.

The judge did not immediately rule.