MONROE — The Monroe woman accused of robbing items from dozens of graves and selling them online is seeking to have her case moved to a different jurisdiction.

Appearing in Green County Circuit Court on Thursday, Judge Thomas Vale was scheduled to rule on a change of venue motion by the defense for defendant Carrie Thompson. A 40-count county criminal complaint alleges she stole scores of items from gravesites in Green County, but she also was suspected in similar crimes across Lafayette and Rock Counties. 

Thompson would allegedly take the items — everything from solar lights to flags — and sell them on Facebook Marketplace; and over social media.

She was initially charged last August with several counts of receiving stolen property, obstructing justice, and resisting arrest. Police said they sought to impose felony charges on Thompson. However, those could not be brought, as the individual items she took did not rise to more than $2,500 in value, the threshold for felony theft.

A not guilty plea was entered on her behalf on January 23.

At Thursday’s hearing, Vale sought to establish the timing of jury questionnaires that must be sent to potential jurors; and whether they will be used to mitigate any pre-trial publicity concerns.

“I’m assuming that sending out … questionnaires ahead of time is what we’re going to do,” Vale said.

District Attorney Craig Nolen is fighting the change of venue request, describing it Thursday as “inadequate.”  

Such motions are filed in court when defense attorneys believe an inordinate amount of news coverage taints a jury pool with prejudicial information before they are empaneled to decide a defendant’s guilt or innocence.

Vale scheduled his ruling on the motion for 11 a.m. on Nov. 9. Thompson, meanwhile, remains free on a $700 bond.