Defense attorneys for Cedric Floyd tried to get a change of venue for next month’s murder trial, citing a large amount of media coverage about their client, but Circuit Judge Bert Rice put off that decision until attorneys begin questioning potential jurors next month.

Floyd, who has been charged with murder in the 2012 death of Tina Roshell Jones, will face trial on Sept. 16.

“We will not be constrained by time,” Rice said. “This case will be tried Sept. 16 and we will not be confined to a two-week trial in this case. If there are any problems in this case, I want to know as soon as possible so that we don’t get to the eve of the trial and have problems.”

As defense attorneys Kevin McKinley and Chuck Jones presented their reason for a change of venue request, Rice told them no witnesses would be called.

Defense counsel had subpoenaed publishers of each of the four county newspapers, as well as the publisher of an online news source. None of the publishers were called to testify.

According to McKinley, the publishers were going to be questioned about the stories regarding cases against Floyd in each of the papers, in addition to citing the circulation numbers for each publication.

Rice told the attorneys that changing the venue for the trial likely would not happen — unless potential jurors questioned in the selection process indicated that a fair and impartial conclusion could not be made in the case against Floyd.