An Oklahoma teenager accused of the drive-by shooting murder of Australian baseball player Chris Lane has failed to have his trial moved out of his home town.
Chancey Luna, 17, fears he will face a hostile jury when his murder trial begins in Duncan, Oklahoma, on Monday.
His legal team applied to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to have the trial moved because "there is a threat that a large majority in the county wants to make personal atonement regardless".
The appeals court ruled against Luna on Tuesday, The Oklahoman newspaper reported.
Duncan residents were shocked, outraged and apologetic Lane, who had a baseball scholarship at Oklahoma's East Central University, was shot in their community.
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The 22-year-old from Melbourne was jogging along a street in the rural city of Duncan on August 16, 2013, when prosecutors allege Luna shot him in the back with a .22 calibre revolver from a moving car.
