Opinion ID: 1934851
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: denial of defendant's pretrial motions

Text: The motions for a change of venue, dismissal of the information, continuance of trial, a public opinion survey, and an expert to conduct a public opinion survey were jointly submitted by defendants Means and Marshall before they were granted separate trials. The motions were all based on the contention defendants could not receive a fair and impartial trial in Pennington County in violation of their constitutional rights because of substantial prejudicial publicity regarding Indian people, the American Indian Movement, defendants, and Russell Means, in particular. The motions were supported by an affidavit containing copies of news articles appearing in the Rapid City Journal, the leading daily newspaper in Pennington County. The articles relating to the shooting of Montileaux and defendants' arrests and detention were all factual reports of the incident. None of the articles contained an expression of opinion as to the guilt or innocence of either defendant. In most of the reports Russell Means, a well-known A.I.M. leader, was headlined and given prominence, whereas Marshall received only secondary mention as a codefendant. The impact, if any, of such pretrial publicity was greatly diminished as to Marshall when separate trials were granted. The contention that Marshall could not receive a fair trial in Pennington County because of public prejudice and pretrial publicity is further weakened by the fact that Russell Means was acquitted of the charge by a Pennington County jury. Other news articles appearing in the Rapid City Journal were unrelated to the Montileaux case. They were mostly news accounts of events, activities and trials throughout South Dakota involving Indians, the American Indian Movement and some of its leaders. General publicity of this nature involving a particular race or group, of itself, does not render a fair and impartial trial impossible for all members of such race or group. See People v. Hisquierdo, 45 Cal.App.3d 397, 119 Cal.Rptr. 378, involving a Chicano defendant; Commonwealth v. Ravenell, 448 Pa. 162, 292 A.2d 365, a street gang member; and People v. Martin, 37 Mich.App. 621, 194 N.W.2d 909, a drug pusher. In the present action the pretrial publicity was not extensive or inflammatory and no presumption of unfairness or prejudice could reasonably be inferred from it. Dobbert v. Florida, 432 U.S. 282, 97 S.Ct. 2290, 53 L.Ed.2d 344. Defendant contends the denial of his motions for a public opinion survey and an expert to conduct such a survey precluded him from establishing actual prejudice to support his motions for a change of venue and for a continuance of trial. The record in this regard, however, shows there were at least three public opinion surveys in existence and available to defendant which had been prepared for other trials in western South Dakota involving Indian defendants. Defendant failed to offer any of the public surveys in evidence and should not now be heard to complain he was totally deprived of an opportunity to prove the existence of public prejudice. The grant or refusal of all of defendant's pretrial motions rested in the sound discretion of the trial court and we find no abuse of that discretion. The final test of whether or not defendant could receive a fair trial by an impartial jury came in the examination of the prospective jurors. Over 700 pages of the trial transcript is devoted to the voir dire process. Most of the questions were propounded by defendant's counsel who conducted a lengthy, unrestricted in-depth inquiry of every prospective juror as to possible bias or prejudice. Defendant did not exercise all of his peremptory challenges to the original panel of twelve or to the alternate jurors finally selected. No claim is now made that any member of the jury was biased, prejudiced, or disqualified for any reason.