Case Name: Dereck S. SAILOR, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1999-04-23
Citations: 733 So. 2d 1057
Docket Number: No. 98-1476
Parties: Dereck S. SAILOR, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
Judges: BARFIELD, C.J., ERVIN, ALLEN, WEBSTER, DAVIS, VAN NORTWICK and PADOVANO, JJ., CONCUR.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 733
Pages: 1057–1074

Head Matter:
Dereck S. SAILOR, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
No. 98-1476.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
April 23, 1999.
Robert Woolfork, Tallahassee, for Petitioner.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General; Edward C. Hill, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Respondent.

Opinion:
BENTON, J.
As a defendant in an ongoing criminal proceeding, Dereck S. Sailor petitions for a writ of certiorari seeking to prevent a change of venue from Gadsden County to Madison County. Given the constitutional right of the "accused . to have a speedy and public trial by impartial jury in the county where the crime was committed," Art. I, § 16(a), Fla. Const. (1968), the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law in ordering the case transferred to another county over defense objection. We therefore grant the petition for writ of certiorari, and quash the order changing venue.
I.
We have consistently granted petitions for writs of certiorari as a means of assuring defendants in criminal cases the right to stand trial in the county in which the crime of which the defendant is accused took place, including earlier in this very prosecution. See Sailor v. State, No. 97-3798 (Fla. 1st DCA Oct. 17, 1997); Beckwith v. State, 386 So.2d 836 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980); Ward v. State, 328 So.2d 260 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976); Davis v. State, 266 So.2d 566 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971). (The failure to raise the question by petition for writ of certiorari before trial is not, however, fatal to vindication of the right to be tried in the county in which the crime was committed. See Higginbotham v. State, 88 Fla. 26, 101 So. 233 (1924); Rhoden v. State, 179 So.2d 606 (Fla. 1st DCA 1965).)
II.
The state indicted Mr. Sailor and three co-defendants for first degree murder and attempted first degree carjacking, alleging that both crimes were committed in Gadsden County. A severance led to separate trials for each defendant. After Mr. Sail- or's first two trials ended with hung juries, the state reduced the murder charge to second degree. (Following the second mistrial, the state moved for a change of venue, but the trial court denied the motion.) Mr. Sailor's third trial ended, just as the first two had, without the jury's reaching a verdict.
After the third mistrial, the state again moved for a change of venue, alleging substantial media coverage of each mistrial (as well as of the co-defendants' trials), and that a large portion of the population of Gadsden County had prejudged Mr. Sail- or's guilt or innocence. Over defense objection, the trial court granted the state's second motion for change of venue.
Mr. Sailor then petitioned this court for a writ of certiorari in an effort to prevent the transfer, and we concluded that
the trial court's action in granting the state's motion for change of venue without conducting an exhaustive effort to empanel a jury in Gadsden County was premature and constitutes a departure from the essential requirements of law. See Beckwith v. State, 386 So.2d 836 (Fla. 1st DCA), review denied, 392 So.2d 1379 (Fla.1980). Accordingly, the petition for writ of certiorari is granted, the trial court's amended order transferring venue is quashed, and the matter is remanded to the Circuit Court in Gadsden County for further proceedings.
Sailor v. State, No. 97-3798 (Fla. 1st DCA Oct. 17, 1997). On remand, the trial court made its first effort after the third mistrial to empanel a jury, an effort that all but succeeded.
Starting with a jury pool of fifty-eight, the trial court ended up with five of the six jurors needed. Before voir dire, the trial court excused fourteen potential jurors. The trial court excused an additional twenty-six jurors for cause after voir dire, leaving eighteen potential jurors on the veni-re.
The trial court allowed each side ten peremptory challenges. Once the defense exercised four peremptory challenges and the state exercised nine peremptory challenges, only five jurors remained. Mr. Sailor declined to accept a five-person jury, and the trial judge declared a mistrial, without ordering enforcement of any of the outstanding jury summonses or making any other attempt to seat another juror.
Of four attempts to seat juries in this case, three proved successful. Before the first degree murder charge was dropped, fourteen jurors were reportedly selected for the first trial and thirteen jurors were reportedly selected for the second trial. Like the pending retrial, the third trial only required a six-person jury, and the trial court could have seated five jurors this time.
This record does not establish that the court made an "exhaustive attempt" to seat a jury before declaring a mistrial or that additional effort would not have proven successful. See Rhoden, 179 So.2d at 607 (reversing grant of a change of venue over defense objection where the trial court exhausted the venire in selecting five jurors).
III.
Read literally, the Florida Constitution unequivocally guarantees a criminal defendant the right to stand trial in the county in which the crime of which he is accused allegedly transpired. The concurring opinion suggests section 910.03, Florida Statutes (1997), can be read as reflecting a legislative view that the defendant's constitutional right to stand trial in the county in which the offense is alleged to have taken place is absolute. Any change of venue without the consent of the defendant has been said to be of "doubtful validity." Stone v. State, 378 So.2d 765, 768 (Fla.1979) (dictum). Nothing in the Florida Constitution explicitly authorizes a change of venue to another county over defense objection. See Rhoden, 179 So.2d at 607.
Instead, the constitution states without qualification that the "accused . shall have the right . to have a speedy and public trial by impartial jury in the county where the crime was committed." Art. I, § 16(a), Fla. Const. This right has existed continuously since the 1885 constitution and guarantees that defendants "will be tried at home . for crimes allegedly committed at home; that they will be tried abroad only for crimes committed abroad." Beckwith, 386 So.2d at 838; see Ward, 328 So.2d at 261-63.
Both in promulgating Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.240(a) and in decisions on the question, however, our supreme court has recognized the possibility of a change of venue on the state's motion if a fair and impartial jury cannot be empaneled in the county where the crime was committed. But precedent does not support the view that the constitutional right to be tried in the county where the crime is alleged to have occurred hinges on the trial judge's assessment of the effects of media coverage or the mood of the community or the like.
While our supreme court has said that defense objection does not preclude a change of venue at the state's request, it has never actually upheld any such change of venue. Only once, indeed, has any Florida court approved a change of venue not explicitly requested or affirmatively agreed to by the defendant. See Hewitt v. State, 43 Fla. 194, 30 So. 796 (1901). The defendants in Heioitt did not object to a change of venue at the time the court ordered the change. The only issue on appeal there was whether a statute could constitutionally authorize a change of venue on the state's motion, even in the absence of timely objection. See id. at 796. The court held the constitution did not bar a change of venue, in the absence of contemporaneous objection, where "the trial court put the question of obtaining an impartial jury . to actual test." Id. at 796.
Since Hewitt, the Florida Supreme Court has decided cases in which trial courts granted state requests for change of venue over defense objection. See Higginbotham, 101 So. at 236; Ashley v. State, 72 Fla. 137, 72 So. 647, 648 (1916); O'Berry v. State, 47 Fla. 75, 36 So. 440, 443 (1904). In each case, the court reversed the defendant's conviction, holding the state had failed to establish that a fair and impartial trial could not be held in the county where the crime was committed. See Higginbotham, 101 So. at 234-35; Ashley, 72 So. at 649; O'Berry, 36 So. at 443. The Ashley court stated the rule, as follows:
Where an application in a criminal prosecution for a change of venue from the county where the crime was committed is made by the prosecuting attorney, and the accused objects thereto, the matter should be tested in some way so as to make it to clearly appear that it is practically impossible to obtain an impartial jury to try the accused in that county.
Ashley, 72 So. at 648; see also Higginbotham, 101 So. at 234 (holding that, unless the accused consents, the state's request for a change of venue may be granted "only when' it is impossible to secure an impartial jury").
These cases make clear that the constitutional standard — at the very least "to make it to clearly appear that it is practically impossible to obtain an impartial jury" — is extremely stringent. In O'Berry, for example, a trial court had ordered a change of venue from Osceola County to Brevard County based on, among other things, the fact that the case was "discussed generally throughout the county" and that there were only "about 600 persons qualified to serve as jurors in Osceola county." 36 So. at 443. O'Berry's conviction "for the larceny of certain cattle" was nevertheless reversed. Id. at 440. The O'Berry court said:
It was not made to appear to the trial court, and we are in no way apprised, how many of the 600 jurors in said county were disqualified from acting as jurors in the case at bar. The fact that it might have been difficult or would have consumed considerable time to have procured a qualified jury to have tried the defendant is not sufficient to warrant a change of venue, against the consent of defendant.... [S]uch an important right must not be lightly treated.
36 So. at 443-44. To the same effect, the Ashley court held that examination of 118 talesmen after the venire had been exhausted in an unsuccessful effort to seat a jury was an insufficient showing of practical impossibility, saying:
In this case while the examination of the talesmen summoned under the several venires and the affidavits of the state attorney showed difficulty and delay in attempting to get an impartial jury in the county, there are affidavits stating that there are over 1,500 persons in the county who may be subject to jury duty, and giving other facts that at least tend to indicate the practicability of getting a proper jury in the county, even though perhaps several hundred of those persons had been called in securing juries in previous trials of the accused in the county for the same offense. The showing made does not clearly and affirmatively establish the impossibility of obtaining an impartial jury in the county to try the accused on this charge. In this view the order changing the venue is an unauthorized denial to the defendant of his organic right to a trial "by an impartial jury, in the county where the crime was committed."
72 So. at 649. The First District — in which he several of the least populous counties in the state — has never upheld a determination that it was practically impossible to seat a jury in any county. See Beckwith, 386 So.2d at 837 (fifteen defendants accused of buying votes in Liberty County [which in 1990 had a population less than one-seventh Gadsden County's]); Ward, 328 So.2d at 263 (trial judge in Washington County found "shocking evidence of an insidious effort to threaten or buy prospective jurors"); Davis, 256 So.2d at 565 (two previous mistrials); Rhoden, 179 So.2d at 607 (Hamilton County sheriffs brother charged with assaulting the sheriff). In each of the foregoing cases, this court reversed on grounds the state did not show that empaneling a jury was a practical impossibility.
IV.
Of interest in this connection are cases in which the defense seeks a change of venue on grounds of prejudicial pretrial publicity. Where the prosecution objects in such cases, much more serious efforts to seat juries have been mounted than the effort that was made here. The trial court in Rolling v. State, 695 So.2d 278, 286 (Fla.1997), "individually reviewed each of the 1233 responses filed by prospective jurors and, prior to voir dire, summarily excused over 800 of those summoned." Since the Court's decision in Murphy v. Florida, 421 U.S. 794, 95 S.Ct. 2031, 44 L.Ed.2d 589 (1975), it has been clear that massive pretrial publicity does not in itself require a change of venue. See also Cole v. State, 701 So.2d 845, 853-54 (Fla.1997), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 118 S.Ct. 1370, 140 L.Ed.2d 519 (1998).
V.
Although an administrative order entered by a former chief justice recommends certain panel sizes for venires "to reduce costs and to minimize inconvenience to citizens summoned for jury service," the administrative order contemplates exceptions "on a case-by-case basis." Order In Re: Jury Management Program (Fla. Mar. 22, 1995) (Grimes, C.J.). With three prior mistrials and the attendant publicity the state's affidavits reflected, a larger panel was needed in order to make the requisite "exhaustive attempt" at seating a jury in the present case.
VI.
Other states having constitutional provisions giving the defendant the right to be tried in the county where the crime was allegedly committed look askance at prose-cutorial requests for changes of venue. See, e.g., Mast v. Superior Court, 102 Ariz. 225, 427 P.2d 917, 918 (1967) (en banc) (quoting State ex rel. Sullivan v. Patterson, 64 Ariz. 40, 165 P.2d 309, 318 (1946)) (describing court's authority to change venue upon the state's motion as "to be exercised 'with great care and deliberation', and the circumstances under which the power should be exercised are extremely limited"); Capps v. State, 268 Ind. 614, 377 N.E.2d 1338, 1340 (1978) (citing Blume v. State, 244 Ind. 121, 189 N.E.2d 568 (1963)); State ex rel. Hartinger v. Court of Common Pleas of Perry County, 84 Ohio App. 241, 86 N.E.2d 810, 813 (1948) (declaring that the state is not entitled to a change of venue even if it can establish substantial local prejudice); State ex rel. Ricco v. Biggs, 198 Or. 413, 255 P.2d 1055, 1062 (1953) (stating that, although a defendant may waive the right to be tried in the county where the crime was committed in order to secure a fair and impartial trial, these "constitutional guarantees are for the protection of the accused; they do not secure any rights to the state"); State v. Banks, 387 N.W.2d 19, 21 (S.D.1986) (stating that, if the trial court cannot obtain a fair and impartial jury in the county where the crime was committed, the defendant cannot be tried); State ex rel. Owens v. Brown, 177 W.Va. 225, 351 S.E.2d 412, 415 (1986) (stating the state's request for a jury from another county "is allowed only when there has been a clear and convincing showing on the record that it is necessary in order to obtain a fair and impartial trial"); State v. Mendoza, 80 Wis.2d 122, 258 N.W.2d 260, 269 (1977) (holding proceedings held in another county were void because "any venue change must be pursuant to defendant's waiver" and not over "the objection of the defendant").
VII.
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution — a likely model for the state constitutional provision at issue here — provides that "the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed." Amend. VI, U.S. Const. See United States v. Cobrales, 524 U.S. 1, 118 S.Ct. 1772, 1775, 141 L.Ed.2d 1 (1998) ("The Constitution . safeguards the defendant's venue right."); United States v. Cores, 356 U.S. 405, 407, 78 S.Ct. 875, 2 L.Ed.2d 873 (1958) ("The provision for trial in the vicinity of the crime is a safeguard against the unfairness and hardship involved when an accused is prosecuted in a remote place.").
The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure permit the court to move the case to another district only "upon motion of the defendant." Fed.R.Crim.P. 21 (1998). See Gates v. United States, 122 F.2d 571, 577 (10th Cir.1941) (stating that the defendant has an absolute right to be tried in the district where the crime was committed); United States v. White, 611 F.2d 531, 534 (5th Cir.1980) ("The right of a criminal defendant to be tried in the district in which the crime was committed is guaranteed by the sixth amendment."). Only the defendant may waive the right to be tried on federal charges in the district where the crime was committed. See United States v. Polin, 323 F.2d 549, 556-57 (3rd Cir.1963) ("The Constitution provides that the defendant shall be tried in the District in which the crime was committed.... However, it is quite clear that this right is a privilege that may be waived by failure to make timely objection."); United States v. Gallagher, 183 F.2d 342, 346 (3rd Cir.1950) ("[T]he venue privilege may be waived by an individual defendant.").
The petition for writ of certiorari is granted and the order changing venue is quashed.
BARFIELD, C.J., ERVIN, ALLEN, WEBSTER, DAVIS, VAN NORTWICK and PADOVANO, JJ., CONCUR.
PADOVANO, J., CONCURS WITH WRITTEN OPINION, IN WHICH WEBSTER and VAN NORTWICK, JJ., CONCUR.
BOOTH, J., DISSENTS WITH WRITTEN OPINION, IN WHICH JOANOS, MINER, WOLF, KAHN and LAWRENCE, JJ., CONCUR.
MINER J., DISSENTS WITH WRITTEN OPINION, IN WHICH BOOTH, WOLF, KAHN and LAWRENCE, JJ., CONCUR.
BROWNING, J., RECUSED.
. The record indicates that forty-two people summoned for jury service for circuit court civil trials and county court misdemeanor trials were not required to perform any type of jury service. No attempt was made to ensure these people would be available to serve if difficulties in seating a jury were encountered in Mr. Sailor's case. These prospective jurors were instead simply released once juries were seated for the circuit civil and county court cases.
. Of one hundred fifty-five jurors summoned for jury duty, only fifty-eight appeared.
. Section 910.03, Florida Statutes (1997) does not prohibit state motions for change of venue. But subsection three authorizes a trial court seating a jury that is to be sequestered, when "a fair and impartial jury cannot be impaneled in the county where the offense was committed'' to select a jury outside the county to "be brought for trial to the county where the offense was committed." § 910.03(3), Fla. Stat. (1997).
.The 1885 constitution guaranteed an accused a trial "in the county where the crime was committed." Art. I, § 11, Fla. Const. (1885). This language reenacted elements of the 1838 constitution that guaranteed an accused the right to "a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the county or district where the offence was committed." Art. I, § 10, Fla. Const. (1838); see also Joseph W. Little & Steven E. Lohr, Textual History of the Florida Declaration of Rights, 22 Stetson L.Rev. 549, 578-80, 619 (1993).
. The Hewitt court did much more to test the feasibility of obtaining an impartial jury than the trial court did here. In Hewitt v. State, 43 Fla. 194, 30 So. 795, 795 (1901), as here, the first attempt to try the defendants ended in a mistrial. The trial court then attempted to empanel a jury to retry the defendants. See id. Only "after the exhaustion of two special venires, one for 100 jurors and the other for 25, and the issuance of another for 30 jurors," did the court order the change of venue — • without objection — from Bradford to Duval County. Id. In 1900, the population of Bradford County was 10,295 people. In contrast, the population of Gadsden County was 41,105 in 1990.
. The portion of the Sixth Amendment requiring that a case be tried in the state and district where the crime was committed applies to federal prosecutions only and is not applicable to proceedings in state court. See Caudill v. Scott, 857 F.2d 344, 345-46 (6th Cir.1988); Cook v. Morrill, 783 F.2d 593, 595-96 (5th Cir.1986); Martin v. Beto, 397 F.2d 741, 748 (5th Cir.1968). See also U.S. Const. Art. Ill, § 2, cl. 3 ("Trial of all Crimes . shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed.").