For the second time this year, a federal judge on Thursday rejected Matthew Farwell’s request to move his upcoming trial out of state.
Farwell’s lawyers have “not met the high burden of demonstrating that pretrial publicity would prevent” him from receiving a fair trial here, US District Court Chief Judge Denise J. Casper wrote in her decision.
That’s the same language Casper used in January when she turned down Farwell’s request to relocate his trial to Rhode Island.
A hearing in Farwell’s case is set for Friday morning. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday.
Farwell, 40, a former Stoughton police detective, is accused of strangling Sandra Birchmore, a young pregnant woman he allegedly began sexually exploiting since meeting her when she was a teenager in a youth police Explorers program.
Farwell has pleaded not guilty and asserts Birchmore, 23, killed herself.
On Monday, Farwell asked again to have his trial moved, arguing that coverage of the case in The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and by local television stations has tainted the jury pool by fostering “widespread public belief that Mr. Farwell is guilty of multiple crimes.”
His lawyers included comments posted to news stories about Farwell and argued they show bias against him.
Prosecutors opposed Farwell’s request; they wrote Farwell “does not meet the high standard” required to relocate his upcoming trial. The prosecution cited the case of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who repeatedly tried and failed to get his death penalty trial moved.
Prosecutors said questionnaires submitted by potential jurors and interviews conducted with them during the empanelment process will identify people with bias and keep them off the jury.
“Farwell will receive a fair and impartial trial in Boston,” the prosecution wrote.
Prosecutors are seeking to seat 12 jurors, plus four alternates, they wrote in court papers.
Testimony is expected to take about a month. There are more than 100 possible witnesses and hundreds of possible exhibits, including thousands of text messages between Farwell and Birchmore.
Birchmore was eight to 10 weeks pregnant when she died, and had told Farwell that he was the father. DNA testing later excluded Farwell as the father of Birchmore’s unborn son.
Federal prosecutors allege Farwell killed Birchmore to cover up that he had been sexually exploiting her beginning when she was 15, and he was 27, and other alleged crimes.
Farwell and Birchmore met some time after she enrolled in the Stoughton Police Department Explorers Program in 2010, the year she turned 13. Farwell participated in the program as a youth and stayed involved as a volunteer instructor.
Farwell is charged with killing a witness, Birchmore, and causing the death of her unborn baby boy. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
Testimony is expected to cover disputes over whether Birchmore was killed or died by suicide, allegations of child sexual exploitation and police misconduct, and questions over whether the initial investigation into her death was adequate.
Prosecutors wrote in court papers that they are collaborating with Farwell’s attorneys to develop a questionnaire for potential jurors.
Laura Crimaldi can be reached at laura.crimaldi@globe.com. Follow her @lauracrimaldi.