Kansas City, Mo. ? For the second time, two former Westar Energy Inc. executives facing trial on charges of looting the state’s largest electric utility are asking to move the case outside of Kansas.

In a motion filed Friday, attorneys for former chief executive officer David Wittig and former chief strategy officer Douglas Lake say extensive media coverage during and after their first trial, which ended in a hung jury, make it impossible for them to receive a fair trial anywhere in the state.

The first trial, which lasted 10 weeks, ended Dec. 20 when the jury said it could not reach a unanimous decision on more than half the 40 charges facing each man. The two were charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, circumventing internal controls, money laundering and forfeiture.

A second trial is scheduled to begin May 9.

Wittig and Lake also tried to have their first trial moved out of state. Using research from jury behavior expert Ronald Dillehay, they said 70 percent of survey respondents in Kansas had heard of their case in the media and 68 percent of those already thought Wittig and Lake were guilty.

The court denied their request but agreed to move the trial from Topeka, where Westar is based, to Kansas City, Kan.

In their motion Friday, attorneys for the two men said that over the last year, the state’s major newspapers have published more than 300 articles on the case and Kansas City television stations have aired 200 segments.

The attorneys said many of the stories included information that could prejudice potential jurors, such as criticism of the defense attorneys by U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson and questions about the defense teams’ legal bills. They also said U.S. Atty. Eric Melgren mentioned the case’s potential effect on Westar customers in a news release, something the attorneys had kept out of the first trial.

A spokesman for Melgren’s office declined to comment on the motion Friday. Prosecutors have filed their own change of venue motion, asking to return the case to Topeka.