Trial of Renee Sweeney's accused killer could be moved out of Sudbury

The lawyers for the man accused of stabbing Renee Sweeney to death in 1998 want his trial held outside of Sudbury.

A Sudbury court heard Tuesday morning that the lawyers for 40-year-old Steve Wright are filing an application for a change of venue.

That's done when a court feels an accused can't get a fair trial in the city where the crime is alleged to have taken place, usually when it's thought that finding impartial jurors would be difficult. 

The Sweeney murder has gotten constant media attention over the past 20 years as Sudbury police searched for the woman's killer.

Wright, who was an 18-year-old high school student at the time of the murder, was charged in December 2018 with first degree murder, but that charge has since been downgraded to second degree.

A hearing to decide if the murder trial will be moved to another city has yet to be scheduled. 

On Tuesday, Justice Alexander Kurke said that he had "urged" defence lawyers to file their paper work earlier than this.

He told the Sudbury courtroom that he was worried about the case being "held hostage" by scheduling problems, warning that "the Jordan clock clicks on every file."

In the Jordan decision of 2016, the Supreme Court set a deadline of 30 months to test charges at trial, before they are automatically dismissed.