Court: Same judge to rule on Van Dyke change-of-venue motion

CHICAGO (AP) - The judge overseeing the case of a Chicago police officer charged with murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald will be the one ruling on whether the trial should be moved.

The presiding judge of Cook County Circuit Court's criminal division Tuesday rejected Officer Jason Van Dyke's request that someone other than Judge Vincent Gaughan decide the change-of-venue motion.

Dashcam video shows Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times in 2014. The defense says Cook County jurors would be swayed by intense publicity. They believe Gaughan already decided not to move the trial.

Judge LeRoy Martin Jr. said Tuesday that Illinois law doesn't allow another judge to rule on a single pretrial issue. He also wasn't convinced Gaughan might be biased on the issue.

Van Dyke's trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 5.