The attorney for a Lawrence man charged with killing his wife wants certain “gossipy” and “salacious” evidence kept out of his client’s preliminary hearing, saying he fears it could prejudice potential jurors.

Defense attorney Mark Manna filed a sealed motion asking Judge Paula Martin to prevent prosecutors from going into certain evidence at Martin K. Miller’s Jan. 6 preliminary hearing, court records show.

Manna declined to discuss specifics of the evidence, but said he thought it was not required for the preliminary hearing, during which prosecutors will attempt to show there’s probable cause that Miller committed the crime.

Should the judge allow prosecutors to present the evidence at the hearing, Manna is asking her to take the unusual step of closing the hearing to the public.

“My only concern is that if the prosecution were to turn this into a mini-trial as opposed to a probable-cause hearing, a lot of irrelevant information that would be prejudicial … would be thrown out there in the public forum,” Manna said. “You’re going to have a lot of people that heard a lot of salacious, unfounded, gossipy things, and they may have formed opinions already about his guilt or innocence.”

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Dec. 28, but it was unclear when Martin would rule on the motion. Prosecutors handling the case couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.

Miller, 46, a carpenter and former Veritas Christian School trustee, is charged with asphyxiating his wife, Kansas University librarian Mary E. Miller, 46, on July 28 at their home at 2105 Carolina St.

Miller is free on $150,000 bond on condition he not have contact with witnesses in the case, including his two junior-high-school-aged children, who were home the night of their mother’s death. Manna has filed a separate motion asking the judge to modify conditions of Miller’s bond to allow him to get updates on his children’s well-being from family friends who are caring for them.

Miller initially retained a private attorney, but the judge appointed Manna, a member of the state’s death-penalty defense team, to represent him after Miller said he’d run out of money.

Miller is not charged with capital murder, but the state’s Board of Indigents’ Defense Services in Topeka recently has been asking that Douglas County judges appoint salaried members of the state’s death-penalty defense team in high-level felonies.

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