Opinion ID: 853385
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Change of venue and mistrial

Text: Prior to trial, Johnson moved for a change of venue from Clay County based on the amount of pre-trial publicity. The trial court denied the motion. During the course of trial, citing ongoing media coverage, Johnson renewed his change of venue motion and also moved for mistrial. Both motions were denied. Johnson claims error. A trial court's denial of a change of venue motion will be reversed only for an abuse of discretion. Elsten v. State, 698 N.E.2d 292, 294 (Ind.1998). Showing potential juror exposure to press coverage is not enough. Id. Instead, the defendant must demonstrate that the jurors were unable to disregard preconceived notions of guilt and render a verdict based on the evidence. Id. An abuse of discretion does not occur where voir dire reveals that the seated panel was able to set aside preconceived notions of guilt and render a verdict based solely on the evidence. Id. The record here shows that during voir dire, each juror who had been exposed to some amount of pre-trial publicity said that he or she could remain impartial. R. at 1189-1216. Johnson has made no showing to the contrary and thus has failed to demonstrate that the jury was unable to render a verdict based upon the evidence. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Johnson's motion for change of venue. As for Johnson's claim that the trial court erred in denying his motion for mistrial, we note that a mistrial is an extreme remedy that is warranted only when less severe remedies will not satisfactorily correct the error. Warren v. State, 725 N.E.2d 828, 833 (Ind.2000). The premise underlying a motion for mistrial presupposes that an error of some type occurred in the first instance. Id. Here, there was no error. During the course of trial the trial court repeatedly admonished the jurors not to allow themselves to be exposed to media coverage, R. at 624-25, 830, 948, 1034, 1140, and polled the jurors throughout the trial to see if they had been exposed to media coverage. R. at 456, 628, 830-31, 999, 1034, 1147. The jurors responded each time that they had not. We find no error here.