Opinion ID: 1699278
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The area from which the jury is to be drawn

Text: Defendant claims a fair trial in Bossier Parish would have been impossible because newspaper articles labeled him as one of the Plain Dealing Seven, a group of individuals authorities believe to be responsible for the 1999 fire that leveled the town's business district. Gregg Trusty, Plain Dealing Murder: Police find alleged murder weapon, BOSSIER BANNER-PROGRESS, December 27, 2000, p. 1. However, even assuming defendant's notoriety in Plain Dealing would have made it impossible for him to obtain a fair trial if the jury had been drawn solely from residents of that community, it does not follow his notoriety extended to the entire parish. [12] As the trial court noted when deferring its ruling on defendant's motion for a change of venue, [I]f the northern end of the parish was the most populous portion of this parish, you might have some argument with regard to your  or you might have some merit with regard to your argument. But Plain Dealing is probably one of the smallest populated areas in the parish. It's  the population of Plain Dealing is probably less than ten (10%) percent of the total parish population. (R., vol.IV, pp. 957-58). See n6 and n11, supra.