ATLANTA — A judge in Fulton County on Friday ruled that the news media will continue to be able to record and broadcast pretrial proceedings in the case of Atlanta spa shooter Robert Aaron Long
The case against Long, in which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, has slowly progressed in the nearly three years since the shootings targeting spas and killing eight people -- seven women, six of them of Asian descent, and one man.
A motions hearing, the latest step in the pretrial process, was held Friday before Judge Ural D. Glanville.
Defense attorneys for Long had argued the substantial news coverage of the 2021 shootings and the legal process since then had already caused "harm to a potential jury pool" that "in this particular situation is irreparable."
Long's attorneys said they were trying to ensure he has a fair trial in seeking to limit media access to pretrial evidentiary proceedings, adding they were worried about news coverage "prejudicially affecting the jury pool, inflaming the jury pool."
"If you're a Georgia citizen, a Fulton County citizen, you could be in Paris, France and you've heard about this case," attorneys said. "You can be anywhere in the world, and what you've heard and what you know could influence you."
Prosecutors, arguing against the motion to limit media access, said defense attorneys had failed to point to specific coverage by any outlet that might be prejudicial or inflammatory.
Judge Glanville denied the motion, adding that he "may change my mind if you present additional instances and I need to reconsider."
Long has already pleaded guilty to the case in Cherokee County, receiving a sentence of life in prison without parole for the four killings of Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Delaina Ashley Yaun-Gonzalez, and Paul Andre Michels at Youngs Asian Massage in Acworth.
“All of the victims in this case are innocent,” the judge, Ellen McElyea, said from the bench at the time he was sentenced in Cherokee County. “None of them deserved the fate that was visited upon them by Mr. Long. Once hatred is given a gun, it doesn’t matter who gets in the way.”
Judge Glanville is presiding over the Long proceedings in Fulton County.
Soon Chung Park, Sun Cha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, and Hyun Jung Grant were killed at two Atlanta spas following the shooting in Acworth.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said the Long case is one that warrants the ultimate penalty," as she seeks a death penalty.
“We do not have another case with that much loss of life," Willis said in 2021.
Remembering the lives taken
- Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33
- Paul Andre Michels, 54
- Xiaojie Tan, 49
- Daoyou Feng, 44
- Soon Chung Park, 74
- Hyun JungGrant, 51
- Sun Cha Kim, 69
- Yong Ae Yue, 63
Atlanta spa shooting victims
