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Drejka lawyers want prosecutors to be disqualified

The defense says the State Attorney's Office was pressured into filing charges against the man accused in fatal shooting.

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — Michael Drejka's defense is calling for the prosecutor in the case to be dismissed and a special prosecutor to be appointed.

On Wednesday, John Trevena, who is defending the man accused of fatally shooting Markeis McGlockton outside a Clearwater convenience store in July 2018, filed a motion claiming the prosecutor is biased and was pressured by the public to file charges after the Pinellas County sheriff initially declined to.

In the motion, Trevena said Drejka had decided to stand up for people with disabilities on July 19, 2018, when he confronted Britany Jacobs, who was parked in a space reserved for drivers with disabilities.

"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is famous for stating, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,'" the motion said.

It describes McGlocton as a 6"1', 225-pound, 28-year-old burly man, with a high level of drugs (MDMA) in his system."

Related: Drejka's lawyers may try to use McGlockton's drug use as part of their defense

The motion said Sheriff Bob Gualtieri reviewed the incident and "determined his office did not have the right to arrest Mr. Drejka." 

Trevena wrote that the NAACP and family and friends of McGlockton pressured the sheriff's office to turn the case over to the State Attorney's Office. 

The office filed manslaughter charges on Aug. 12, 2018.

"Mr. Drejka could face decades in prison because the State Attorney's Office and the Sheriff could not stand their ground on stand your ground," the motion said.

No date has been set for the judge to hear the motion.
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