A judge Monday declined to move the upcoming trial of double-murder defendant Jeremy Christian outside of Portland, despite arguments from Christian’s defense attorneys that prospective Portland area jurors have been tainted by extensive media coverage.

On Friday, defense attorney Greg Scholl argued that Portland area residents have learned details about Christian’s life and the May 2017 MAX train killings that will be inadmissible during trial. Scholl also contended that residents have been exposed to inaccurate information. Scholl didn’t cite any specific examples of inaccuracies in media coverage, but did say a jury could be prejudiced by the use of the word “heroes” in some TV or video reports describing those who died in the train attack.

In her ruling, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Cheryl Albrecht said she thought it was reasonable to proceed with a prosecution request to begin jury selection -- and if it becomes clear during the process that an impartial jury can’t be seated, she can then rule the trial must be moved to a different Oregon county.

Lawyers and the judge are scheduled to begin the process of selecting a jury June 14. The five-week trial is scheduled to start June 24.

Albrecht agreed with defense attorneys that many of the online comments attached to stories about Christian’s case have been “virulent” and indicate that their authors have already formed opinions about Christian’s alleged guilt. If those commenters were chosen to be on the jury, Christian likely would not receive a fair trial, the judge wrote. But Albrecht said she has no way of knowing how many individuals are commenting, because some could be posting more than one comment. She also said she couldn’t find that the anonymous commenters represent “a reliable cross-section of the population.”

“Determining whether a jury pool may be irretrievably tainted by pre-trial publicity is no easy task," Albrecht wrote.

Albrecht said it will be “imperative” to carefully question potential jurors, but also to pay attention to their “inflection, sincerity, demeanor, candor, body language, and apprehension of duty.”

Defense attorneys wrote in court papers that they plan to thoroughly examine the process in which jurors are called to the courthouse for duty, apparently through voter records and records with the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles. The defense also plans to comb through who decides not to show up, or who is rejected as a potential juror because of felony convictions or for other reasons.

More than 650,000 adults live in Multnomah County. The pool that jurors are drawn from will be smaller: Felons who’ve been convicted or served time in the previous 15 years are excluded. Adults 70 and older or breastfeeding mothers also can decline to serve. Jurors also must be U.S. citizens.

In other action Monday, the judge also ruled that if Christian is found guilty of aggravated murders in the deaths of Ricky Best and Taliesin Namkai-Meche, prosecutors can seek the death penalty. Prosecutors haven’t stated their intentions yet; the judge ruled in response to a defense request to remove the death penalty as a possibility in this case.

Christian’s lawyers have notified the court that they plan to pose mental health defenses -- including that because of mental problems Christian couldn’t form the intent to commit aggravated murder.

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

@o_aimee

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.