Opinion ID: 2360027
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Nature of Jurisdiction and Venue

Text: Jurisdiction and venue are distinct as legal concepts. Jurisdiction of the court means the authority of the court to decide a particular case whereas venue designates the particular county in which a court may exercise the power. State v. Baldwin, Me., 305 A.2d 555 (1973); City of Rockland v. Inhabitants of Hurricane Isle, 106 Me. 169, 76 A. 286 (1909); Southern Sand & Gravel Co. v. Massaponax Sand & Gravel Corporation, 145 Va. 317, 322, 133 S.E. 812, 813 (1926); Glassman, Maine Practice, § 18.1. Our Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure, adopted in 1965, fix venue in this manner: [T]rial shall be in the county in which the offense was committed, except as otherwise provided by law. M.R.Crim. P., Rule 18. The relevant statutory exception to this Rule [2] and one which determines the question of the propriety of the Court to try this Defendant in Penobscot County is found in 15 M.R.S.A. § 3: When an offense is committed on the boundary between 2 counties or within 100 rods thereof; or a mortal wound or other violence or injury is inflicted or poison is administered in one county, whereby death ensues in another, the offense may be alleged in the complaint or indictment as committed, and may be tried in either. The Defendant argues that even if venue is an issue which may be waived if not presented before trial, he had no notice prior to trial that the issue existed and so could not have waived it. M.R.Crim.P., Rule 12(b)(2), (3) and (4); State v. Baldwin, supra; Glassman, Maine Practice, § 18.1, supra. We are not compelled to reach the issue of waiver because 15 M.R.S.A. § 3 not only establishes the counties in which offenses committed within 100 rods of a county line may be tried, but it also fixes a grand jury territorial authority to indict for such offenses. [3] An indictment returned by a grand jury which has acted without authority gives the court no jurisdiction and cannot be cured by waiver. The same factors which will bear on venue will also determine the grand jury's territorial authority. Although the Defendant's trial counsel would more properly have raised either issue by a motion to dismiss, we consider that his motions for acquittal, with their accompanying explanations, sufficiently preserved both issues for our examination. The Defendant's claims on appeal of incorrect venue permit full consideration of the correctness of the Justice's action in denying the motions.