Today a decision will be made as to whether a fair trial held in Coles County can be given to the man accused of murdering Shannon McNamara.

Anthony B. Mertz, a former Eastern student, stands accused in a capital murder trial that has caught the attention of the campus like no other before it. The question Coles County Circuit Court Judge Dale Cini must answer today is whether this county can guarantee an unbiased trial or if the defense team’s request of a change of venue is in order.

Just about everyone on Eastern’s campus would like to see the trial happen here in Charleston. One definite benefit would be the ability of all of McNamara’s friends and family to easily be able to attend what likely will be a lengthy trial.

However, the decision for a change of venue cannot be made based on emotions. The defense conducted a survey to see if people in Coles County had previous knowledge about the case and had made their own conclusions about Mertz’s guilt or innocence. The defense conducted the telephone survey to determine whether an unbiased jury could be pulled from this small county.

Cini will hear information found by the survey and hear arguments from both sides, before making the decision to either leave the trial here or move it elsewhere in the state. Then, comes the difficult part.

For as much as people in this community might like the trial to stay here, Cini must make the most logical of decisions. And, in actuality, we should all want that decision to be the best one possible, despite what our feelings tell us.

If the survey was correctly done and Cinci concludes the trial could not be held fairly here, then he should move the trial because that is what every defendant deserves and is guaranteed by law – a fair trial. It is one of our rights as Americans to be provided a fair and speedy trial when we are accused of a crime.

If Cini reviews the survey information and believes a fair trial could be held in Coles County, then the trial should stay here.

Regardless, what’s important right now is to make sure Mertz is given a fair trial, so when a final verdict is made, there will be no grounds for backtracking or making accusations that a fair jury wasn’t provided.