ALBEMARLE COUNTY (WSLS 10) - The man accused of killing two Virginia college students is trying to move his trial out of Albemarle County.
Jesse Matthew Jr. is facing a capital murder charge in connection to the death of U.Va. student Hannah Graham.
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During a motion's hearing Wednesday the judge ordered a change of venue request be heard on March 2, 2016.
Jesse Matthew Jr.'s court-appointed lawyers also sought a separate judge to hear in private their requests to fund two experts. Matthew's lawyers say they can't identify the experts because of privacy concerns about their trial strategy.
Albemarle County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Higgins denied the motions on Wednesday
Prosecutors opposed the requests - saying there has to be a middle ground.
"There are some expert services as I mentioned, a victim outreach expert or an expert with respect to polling that might reach out to people in the community to see what sort of permeation media exposure for example, that the commonwealth would feel the need to know about because of potential contact to the commonwealth by people being contacted by the defense expert," said Denise Lunsford, Commonwealth's attorney.
If convicted in this case, Matthew could face the death penalty.
Last week, Matthew was sentenced in Fairfax County to life in prison for a sexual assault on a woman a decade ago. He also is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 20-year-old Morgan Harrington.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.