The attorney for the first state appellate judge to be charged with a crime in 14 years wants the federal trial moved from Erie to Pittsburgh because of pretrial publicity.

Phil Friedman says there is no chance of a fair trial for his client, former Superior Court Judge Michael T. Joyce, because Erie media coverage has been "inflammatory and pervasive."

The retired judge has been charged with nine separate counts of mail fraud and money laundering stemming from two insurance claims he filed after a low-speed accident in 2001.

The insurance companies paid him $440,000 for what Judge Joyce claimed were the "constant neck and back pain, excruciating headaches, serious discomfort and difficulty sleeping" he suffered from the rear-ending of his new Mercedes-Benz at a speed estimated at 5 mph. The accident, he said, left him unable to play golf, scuba dive or exercise.

Prosecutors, however, allege that he falsely represented his injuries. According to the indictment, he used the money to buy a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and an interest in an airplane, in addition to continuing to play golf in Florida, New York and Jamaica, scuba dive in Jamaica, inline skate and even earn a pilot's license.

In addition to seeking a change of venue for the trial, Mr. Friedman has filed a motion to force prosecutors to share the full content of their interviews with 14 witnesses, including FBI and IRS agents, and friends and colleagues of Judge Joyce.

Those conversations, Mr. Friedman said, "corroborate" the injuries the judge suffered in the accident. Instead of supplying him with the full conversations, the prosecutors provided short synopses of each interview.

"They feel they can satisfy their duty through a one-line synopsis," Mr. Friedman said in an interview. "That doesn't satisfy their obligation under Brady," a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that requires the disclosure of exculpatory evidence.

"In our view, that's exculpatory," he said of the interviews, particularly since "the government questions the nature of his injuries from the accident."

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Erie has until March 10 to respond to Mr. Friedman's pretrial motion and the change of venue. Erie and Pittsburgh are part of the federal Western District, headquartered here.

Judge Joyce was first elected to the Erie County Common Pleas Court in 1985 and ran for state Superior Court in 1997.

The indictments were not announced until August 2007. At the time, U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said "the bodily injury he says he sustained we believe was fraudulent."

No police or medical personnel were called to the scene. Judge Joyce received $390,000 from his insurer, Erie Insurance Group, and $50,000 from the other driver's carrier, State Farm Insurance. Erie Insurance had an internal report on the claim conducted by a law firm, which found that it was properly handled.

Judge Joyce originally planned to seek retention, but changed his mind after the indictments.