Ex-UC officer Ray Tensing's murder trial postponed

A trial for the former University of Cincinnati police officer charged with murder in the killing of an unarmed motorist has been postponed, officials said Tuesday.

Ray Tensing had been scheduled to stand trial Nov. 16 in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, but a pretrial hearing will now take place on that date, according to a news release from the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office.

Both sides agreed to the delay so they can prepare for the trial, officials said. A new trial date could be set at the Nov. 16 hearing.

Tensing, 25, is charged in the July 19 killing of Sam DuBose. Tensing shot DuBose once in the head during a traffic stop for a missing front license plate, after it appeared DuBose was starting to drive away. The incident was captured on Tensing's body camera. He was fired after being indicted.

Late last month, his attorney, Stew Mathews, filed a motion to move the trial to another county, saying there had been extensive inflammatory and unfair pretrial publicity. That included, Mathews said, statements by the county's elected prosecutor and Cincinnati's mayor and city manager.

Mathews has said Tensing fired his gun because he thought he would be run over.