MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) – A Shelby County jury will decide if Sherra Wright and Billy Turner are guilty of murdering former NBA and hometown hero Lorenzen Wright.
Wright’s lawyers had filed a motion to have the trial moved to another county, but then Monday night changed their mind. The trial is set for September 16, just over 100 days from now. It was a very quick hearing. Wright’s lawyers say they would rather have a Shelby County jury than one from a rural area.
“We literally would have had to have gone thru every county between here and Davidson,“ said Laurie Hall, Wright’s lawyer.
Sherra Wright’s lawyers say to get the trial moved to Nashville, they would have had to prove they couldn’t get an impartial jury in every county between here and there. Wright was murdered in 2010, and his ex-wife and Turner were charged with the crime in 2017. The case has been the center of extensive pretrial media coverage.
Wright’s lawyers are concerned with not only media coverage but as the trial gets closer social media as well.
I’m sure the people who are going to comment on social media I’m sure it’s going to be venomous, I’m sure it’s going to be hostile and I’m sure it’s going to be caustic,“ said Juni Ganguli, Wright’s lawyer.
The prosecutor believes an unbiased jury can be found in Memphis. Potential jurors will be given questionnaires hoping to secure a fair jury.
“I think there is always a concern that’s right, but with that said, as opposed to a jury from a rural county, I would much rather have a jury from Memphis,“ said Ganguli.
Wright’s lawyers say she is doing well. Her spirits are high, and she is in regular communication with her children.
