Opinion ID: 1413472
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Change of Venue and Conduct of Spectators.

Text: Defendant filed a motion for change of venue of the action to another county because he could not have a fair and impartial trial in Big Horn County. He supported the motion with his own sworn statement and twenty-four form affidavits of other persons. The affidavits were typewritten (some of them carbons) and all very similar as to wording, many of them exactly the same, all containing blank spaces which had been filled in to conform to the situation regarding each affiant. One of the forms of affidavit used, which is representative of the entire group, is as follows: ____, being of lawful age and first duly sworn according to law deposes and says: That he has resided in ____, Big Horn County, Wyoming, for the past ____ years; that he has heard considerable discussion in the community in which he resides concerning the killing of Ray Bookout by Elmo Dempsey Spears which was the result of a gunshot wound inflicted on November 26, 1953 at the Shoshone Bar in Lovell, Wyoming; That he has had conversations with several people in the Lovell community, and from those conversations he has come to the conclusion that said Elmo Dempsey Spears cannot have a fair and impartial trial in Big Horn County, Wyoming; That Ray Bookout was a member of the large Sessions family which has at least ____ members in the northern portion of Big Horn County, Wyoming, and said shooting and the subsequent death of said Ray Bookout has created so much adverse sentiment toward said Elmo Dempsey Spears that he will not be able to get a fair and impartial trial in Big Horn County, Wyoming. AND THAT FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NOTHING. ____________________________________________ The prosecuting attorney filed an Answer to Affidavit for Change of Venue purporting to deny the allegations of defendant. The order of the district court shows that defendant's motion for change of venue came on regularly for hearing and that after argument by counsel the motion was overruled. Many authorities are cited by defendant to show that there was abuse of discretion by the court in the overruling of the motion. The statute applicable in a request for change of venue is § 3-1906, W.C.S., 1945, which provides, inter alia: The defendant in a criminal action may make an affidavit stating that he believes he cannot receive a fair trial owing to the bias or prejudice of the judge or the excitement or prejudice against him in the county    if the affidavit sets forth that there is excitement or prejudice in the county against the defendant, the prosecuting attorney may thereupon traverse by his affidavit the allegations of defendant, and the court or judge shall thereon set down the issue so presented for trial before him at a stated time, at which time both parties shall appear and support their respective affidavits by witnesses examined orally or by affidavits, and if it appears to the court or judge, upon such hearing, that the trial would be more impartial in another county, the application shall be granted    The defendant did not literally follow the statute in the affidavits filed, nor did he support them by witnesses at the time of the hearing. Inasmuch as our statute relating to change of venue is quite definite and this court has previously passed upon the subject, general authorities and cases from other jurisdictions, even if based on facts substantially similar to the instance under consideration, would not be persuasive. In State v. Vines, 49 Wyo. 212, 224, 225, 54 P.2d 826, 829, the court discussed a situation similar in many respects to the one at bar, in which defendant offered in evidence fifty-one affidavits in support of a motion for change of venue, each affiant swearing `that there is a wide-spread feeling of prejudice' in the county against the defendant so that he could not have a fair trial there. Some of the remarks of the court seem to apply to the instant case.    It seems to be the general rule that affidavits stating the conclusions of the affiants, with no facts to support the conclusions, have little or no weight. (Citing cases.)    Of course, affidavits of opinions or conclusions, alone relied on, furnish no basis for granting a change of venue, but apparently the practice is to receive them in evidence, probably on the theory that the court may conclude from other evidence that there is basis in fact for the opinions expressed in the affidavits. In the case at bar we do not think there was any other evidence from which the trial court should have found that there were facts to justify the conclusions stated in the affidavits.    Although the Vines case was reversed on another point, it seems clear that the affidavits filed therein were considered to be insufficient. In State v. Hambrick, 65 Wyo. 1, 19, 20, 196 P.2d 661, 666, 198 P.2d 969, the court discussed a motion for change of venue supported by eight affidavits to the effect that the people of Carbon County were prejudiced against defendant and that she could not receive a fair trial in that county. On the hearing, defendant and one witness testified and several persons were called on behalf of the prosecution. The court, in commenting on the matter, quoted 22 C.J.S. 310 with approval: `The question to be determined is whether or not there is reasonable ground for fear that the alleged prejudice actually exists, and that accused will not receive a fair trial. It is not sufficient merely to show that great prejudice exists against accused; it must appear that the prejudice against him is so great or so general as to prevent him from receiving a fair and impartial trial.' Continuing, the court said: Whether or not a change of venue should be granted is ordinarily within the sound discretion of the trial court. 22 C.J.S. 323. It is only when that discretion has been abused that an appellate court can intervene, and whether such abuse exists is often, if not generally, a most difficult point to determine.   . Considering the pattern of the affidavits filed in this case, the lack of facts stated therein, defendant's failure to comply with the statute, § 3-1906, W.C.S., 1945, in supporting the affidavits by witnesses examined orally or by affidavits or to request an opportunity to do this, and the omission of even a suggestion of prejudice or sentiment adverse to defendant throughout the entire county, we find in the record no indication of the trial court having abused its discretion or of defendant being deprived of a fair and impartial trial because of a denial of change of venue. The burden is upon the defendant to make a showing that he has sustained prejudice by reason of the failure of the court to grant him a change of venue, and this burden has not been sustained. See Jones v. State, 94 Okl. Cr. 359, 236 P.2d 102. Although defendant's counsel do not list the matter of the conduct of the spectators as one of the main points in the case, they devote some discussion to it in both the brief and the oral argument and insist that the conduct of the spectators created an atmosphere of hostility and unfriendliness toward the defendant. They indicate that there was reversible error because the trial court did not grant a mistrial for this reason. Counsel referred to an oral denial by deceased's father of a statement made by one of defendant's attorneys in his closing argument. The only impropriety indicated by the record is that occurring during the cross-examination of defendant when reference was made to a conversation with Forrest Frosty Eastman when at one time the court said, there will be no disturbance, thereby indicating that there had been some untoward act by the audience. The general rule regarding the conduct of trials is well stated in 53 Am.Jur. 55: In the administration of justice, the judge is charged with the preservation of order in his court and with the duty to see that justice is not obstructed by any person or persons whatsoever. A large measure of discretion resides in the court in this respect, and its exercise will not be reviewed or disturbed on appeal unless it appears that prejudice resulted from the denial of a legal right.    See also 53 Am.Jur. 692 and Annotations at 12 L.R.A. (N.S.) 98, 39 L.R.A. (N.S.) 667, and L.R.A. 1919E, 959. To say that any prejudice resulted to the defendant from the conduct of the spectators would amount to speculation, and we think that there is nothing before this court indicating the trial court's abuse of discretion in maintaining order at the trial.