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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The man who bought the rifles used in the San Bernardino terror attack has asked that his trial be pushed back by eight months to March of next year, according to a court filing Friday.
Attorneys for Enrique Marquez Jr. argued in the filing that there was too much evidence involved to make a July trial date practical or fair to their client. Instead, they want the trial to start on March 21.
"This case is so unusual and so complex that it is unreasonable to expect adequate preparation" by July, the filing states.
The government's evidence includes more than 8,500 documents and 500 hours of audio interviews of witnesses.
The filing also said federal prosecutors don't object to a delay.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment.
Marquez pleaded not guilty in January to conspiring with one of the San Bernardino shooters and to providing material support to terrorists.
During 10 days of interviews, Marquez revealed that he bought two rifles for his longtime friend, Syed Rizwan Farook, in 2011 and 2012, according the criminal complaint against him.
Marquez told agents the two discussed but never carried out plans to launch bomb and shooting attacks at a community college and a notoriously gridlocked section of highway without exits, according to the complaint.
Using guns Marquez had bought, Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, massacred 14 of his coworkers on Dec. 2 at an annual training in San Bernardino before the couple was killed in a shootout with police.
It was the deadliest terror strike on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.
Authorities said Marquez was not involved in the killings, but his failure to warn authorities about Farook and his purchase of the guns had deadly consequences.
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