photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World File Photo

Defense attorney Razmi Tahirkheli gives his closing argument in a trial in this file photo from Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Douglas County District Court.

The attorney for a man who was acquitted at trial Thursday in Douglas County District Court on Friday blasted news coverage of his case and said he would request a change of venue for the man’s next trial, which was scheduled to begin on Feb. 18.

Razmi Tahirkheli, the attorney for 28-year-old Elijah Garcia, told Judge Stacey Donovan that “negative” and “wrong” things had been printed about Garcia in “that journal that passes as a newspaper,” though he did not name the Journal-World or specify what he believes the newspaper got incorrect.

Despite his criticism of the coverage, Tahirkheli has not requested that the newspaper make any corrections, and he admitted to the judge that he doesn’t actually read the newspaper, which he said he disdains, but that he had “heard” about the articles.

He said the articles “incited” the public, but he did not say how the public has been incited.

Tahirkheli also told Judge Stacey Donovan that he was once a journalism student and that he values the First Amendment and its press protections, but he said that he has “acquired skills” in his life that he can “turn on” the newspaper. Tahirkheli did not elaborate on what he meant by that.

Donovan cautioned Tahirkheli that making the case for a change of venue will involve “a very high bar,” but otherwise did not comment on his proposed course of action.

Donovan, with no objection from the state, did grant Tahirkheli’s request to continue the upcoming trial so that it would not follow directly on the heels of Garcia’s last trial, which ended Thursday with his acquittal on six felonies. To that end, Garcia waived his right to a speedy trial, and he will next appear in court on April 14.

In this week’s trial, Garcia had been accused of attacking and pistol-whipping people in a moving car containing a child and pistol-whipping a man in Garcia’s front yard, which the jury saw video of. Garcia testified that he had been acting in self-defense, and the jury ultimately decided that the state had not proved a single charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

Garcia’s next trial involves charges of aggravated battery and cocaine possession. Donovan, who presided over the most recent trial, ordered Garcia on Sept. 12, 2025, to stand trial on the new charges.

Tahirkheli said that in addition to the change of venue motion he was also expecting to file a motion to suppress evidence in the upcoming case. The state had indicated that it intended to offer Garcia’s own statements as evidence.

Tahirkheli and the state both signaled to Donovan that a negotiated plea was possible in the next case, which would end it short of trial. Cody Allen Smith, the prosecutor who tried Garcia this week, will also prosecute Garcia at his next trial, but Smith was not present at Friday’s pretrial conference.

photo by: Mugshot courtesy of the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office

Elijah Joseph Garcia is pictured with the Douglas County Judicial and Law enforcement Center.