Opinion ID: 1933783
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Change-of-Venue Motion.

Text: The district court denied Atwood's requests for a change of venue. Our review in such a case is for an abuse of discretion. State v. Siemer, 454 N.W.2d 857, 860 (Iowa 1990). Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 10(10)(b) requires a district court to change venue or import a jury from another county [i]f the court is satisfied... that such degree of prejudice exists in the county in which the trial is to be had that there is a substantial likelihood a fair and impartial trial cannot be preserved with a jury selected from that county.... This case, involving the tragic deaths of two young children, obviously evoked considerable media attention. The most intense coverage began the day after the event, on April 6, 1997. The coverage continued to some extent through April. In May coverage was sporadic, usually spurred by events such as Atwood's initial court appearance and arraignment. After May 1997 news coverage was sparse: one article appeared in August, one in February of 1998, three in March, one in April, and one in May just prior to trial. The voir dire examination of the jury panel is perhaps the best indicator of the degree of pervasiveness in news coverage prior to trial. We have said: Exposure to newsworthy events will not alone give rise to a presumption of prejudice. Additionally, to the extent particular jurors may be substantially prejudiced against a defendant, rigorous voir dire can be trusted to expose those prejudices. State v. Wagner, 410 N.W.2d 207, 211 (Iowa 1987). In this case, the parties approved a questionnaire to be completed by potential jurors to assess their suitability as jurors in view of the pretrial publicity, to discern any problems concerning their acquaintance with any of the families involved, and to determine if any potential jurors had problems because of the expected length of the trial. As a result of the questionnaire, six potential jurors out of the sixty were struck for cause. (The specific grounds do not appear in the record.) The attorneys then selected eighteen potential jurors for individual voir dire examination. Four were excused because of their familiarity with the participants or their families, five were struck for cause due to fixed opinions or a probable inability to judge the defendant fairly, four were dismissed for reasons such as scheduling conflicts or medical problems, and the remaining five of the eighteen were allowed to remain without objection. The parties then conducted group voir dire with twenty-eight potential jurors, seven of whom had earlier been examined individually. Of these twenty-eight, the State was denied one challenge for cause, and the defendant's earlier challenge to one was sustained at this time because of his acquaintance with one of the victims' family. None of the twenty-eight potential jurors questioned expressed a fixed opinion on Atwood's guilt. We do not believe the trial court abused its discretion in denying the motion for change of venue. Cases cited by Atwood to support his claim of prejudice are clearly distinguishable; most of them involved gross circumstances and responses on voir dire indicating a high percentage of jurors with preconceived notions of guilt.