Trial Venue Change Sought In Bibb County Murder Case

June will mark four years since Austin Patrick Hall was arrested and charged with killing Bibb County Deputy Sheriff Brad Johnson. Now he is requesting a Bibb County Circuit Court change the venue for his trial claiming extensive media coverage has prejudiced potential jurors in the case.

Hall's defense attorneys requested the trial be relocated to either Bibb, Dallas, Hale, Perry, or Wilcox County in the state's 4th Judicial Circuit. The motion by the defense sites “extensive pretrial publicity, widespread community discussion, and strong preconceived opinions” about the case.as the reason for the request.

Get our free mobile app

Prosecutors disagree, claiming a fair and impartial jury can be selected from a jury pool in Bibb County.

Johnson was killed and deputy Christopher Poole, was seriously wounded on Highway 25 in the Brierfield area during the pursuit of a stolen vehicle. A manhunt by 16 different law enforcement agencies ensued for more than 24 hours before Hall was located on a relative's property and taken into custody by the United States Marshals Service (USMS) Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force in Brierfield.

Hall has an extensive criminal record with at least 40 different charges since 2012 including assault, attempting to elude police and resisting arrest. Hall escaped from the Camden Work Release Center in 2019. He tried to choke a corrections officer in Calhoun County in 2020. Hall had been released from Calhoun County Jail just weeks before the shooting in Bibb County.

Hall was indicted in June 2023 on capital murder charges. In August 2023, he was arraigned on five charges, three counts of capital murder, one count of attempted murder, and one count of firing into an occupied vehicle. Hall pleaded not guilty to each of those charges.

If convicted her could receive the death penalty or a sentence of life in prison without parole.

No decision has been reached by the judge on the change of venue request.