OPINION AND ORDER

MYRON H. THOMPSON, District Judge.

Defendants Stanley Jawan Hinton and Delricco Ray Jones are charged with one count of carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2119 and 2, and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(ii) and 2.

This criminal case is before the court on the issue of whether to move, for security reasons, the trial of the two defendants from Opelika to Montgomery, Alabama, albeit with jury selection to remain in Opelika. A hearing was held on this issue on May 10, 2016. For the reasons set forth below, the trial will be moved to Montgomery.

The Middle District of Alabama is divided into three divisions: the Northern Division, the Eastern Division, and the Southern Division. The court's jury plan provides, under ordinary circumstances, "Jury trials shall be held in the division in which the case is filed." M.D. Ala. Jury Plan § 16(b). This case was filed in the Eastern Division and, accordingly, trial was set at the courthouse in Opelika.

However, the plan also allows a presiding judge to determine "for reasons of security or other good cause . . . that a case will be tried in Montgomery." Id. Security concerns warrant relocation of this trial for two reasons. First, the facilities at the Opelika courthouse are not sufficient to hold Hinton and Jones, both in custody, and additional in-custody witnesses who are expected to testify at trial, while maintaining the necessary separation among them. A representative of the United States Marshal Service testified that, given that the Opelika courthouse has only one cell, holding the trial in that courthouse would pose a significant security issue. The court agrees. As explained in United States v. McGregor, 2011 WL 1344189 (M.D. Ala. 2011) (Thompson, J.), "The reasoning behind the . . . provision for transfer for reasons of security or other good cause would be self-evident to anyone who has visited the courthouse[] in the Eastern Division. . . . [I]n criminal cases where it is necessary that two or more in-custody defendants or witnesses be kept in separate cells, this cannot be done." 2011 WL 1344189, at *2 (internal quotation marks omitted).

Second, the layout of the Opelika courthouse, which is such that an in-custody defendant cannot be transported from the courthouse's holding cell to the courtroom without coming into contact with the general public and probably even with the jury, presents an additional security risk. And this risk is magnified because there are two in-custody defendants as well as likely in-custody witnesses. This sort of contact could present a security risk to the public and to the defendants. Holding trial at the Montgomery courthouse would greatly reduce any potential risk; in Montgomery, the layout of the courthouse allows Marshals to easily remove defendants and in-custody witnesses from the courtroom and to transport them to a secure place without using public spaces.

Moreover, moving the trial to Montgomery will not violate Hinton and Jones's rights. Because the jury will be selected in Opelika, each defendant's right to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community will be preserved. See United States v. Grisham, 63 F.3d 1074, 1080 (11th Cir. 1995) ("[T]he fair cross-section requirement is a means of ensuring that the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of an impartial jury is met."). The sole change will be the location of the trial itself. Further, the government, Hinton, and Jones agree that the trial should be moved.

For these reasons, security concerns warrant moving this trial from Opelika to Montgomery.

* * *

Accordingly, it is ORDERED as follows:

(1) Jury selection shall remain set for June 13, 2016, at 10:00 a.m., at the Federal Courthouse located at 500 South 7th Street in Opelika, Alabama.

(2) After jury selection, trial shall begin on a later day in Courtroom 2FMJ of the Frank M. Johnson Jr. United States Courthouse Complex, One Church Street, Montgomery, Alabama.