This is why Juror selection is an extremely complex process. Especially on a murder trial. Each side gets throw aways/strikes and they come to middle ground in front of the judge eventually on the dirty dozen. On the one I sat on last June, juror selection took half a day and it wasn't even capital murder. I didn't realize how complex of a thing it was until I went through it personally. JR is right, TV is much different than real life.
First, it's the trial judge's discretion when ruling on CoV. Only clear abuse of that discretion will cause it to be overturned. That's a huge hurdle to overcome. Second, the Def. must show actual prejudice against him, or that the community was saturated with pre-trial publicity. Also, the length of time between the publicity and the trial are considered. The coverage now will be scaled back, and largely just report on the progress of the case through the system. Jurors can even have preconceived notions about his guilt, but if they can tell the court under oath that they can put aside their prejudice, listen to the evidence, and make a ruling based on that and the law, then you can seat an impartial jury.
Fact is, contrary to what CCT believes, changes of venue are rare, and being overturned on appeal for failure to grant one is even more rare. One problem is, CCT believes that everybody thinks like him, or they're a crack head, and so, since he can't put aside his preconceived notions, he thinks nobody else can either. There's lots of rational, thinking, intelligent people out there willing to hear the facts, and law, and make a decision based on that.
780 Replies
94214 Views