Opinion ID: 2428819
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Change of Venue and Individual Voir Dire

Text: The Defendant's next two issues are related in that they stem from the allegation that the present case received extensive and prejudicial pretrial publicity. The case had been featured on the television program America's Most Wanted, which aired locally in Shelby County. The Defendant filed pretrial motions for change of venue and for individual voir dire. A hearing was held on the motion for change of venue at which time a market researcher testified concerning a poll he had conducted of 428 Shelby County residents in April 1989. Almost 90 percent of those surveyed had heard something about the case, with 29.5 percent having seen the America's Most Wanted episode featuring the crime. Those surveyed who had heard of the crime were twice as likely to feel that an employee had committed the crime. The trial court denied the motion for change of venue with the proviso that, if difficulties arose in finding an untainted jury, it would reconsider its decision. The court took the motion for individual voir dire under advisement. After the jury selection process began, the Defendant renewed his motion for individual voir dire. The court continued to take it under advisement until it saw how the prospective jurors responded to questions. Forty-eight prospective jurors were voir dired. Approximately half had heard something about the incident; a few were familiar with the restaurant. Almost all were able to set aside what little they had heard and stated they had formed no opinion as to Defendant's guilt based on what they had seen or read. The most notable exception was Peggy Ingram, the only prospective juror who said she had seen the episode of America's Most Wanted featuring the crime. She was excused for cause. Whenever the Defendant asked a prospective juror what he or she had heard, the prospective juror was called to the bench where defense counsel questioned the juror more thoroughly out of the hearing of the panel. The record does not reveal that individual voir dire was required in this case or that the trial court abused its discretion. See State v. Simon, 635 S.W.2d 498, 506 (Tenn. 1982). With reference to the motion for change of venue, there was no showing that the majority of prospective jurors had been extensively exposed to prejudicial pretrial publicity. In fact, the record itself contains little evidence of pretrial publicity. The Defendant has not carried his burden of showing the clear abuse of discretion required to reverse the trial court's actions. See e.g., State v. Bates, 804 S.W.2d 868, 877 (Tenn. 1991); State v. Simon, 635 S.W.2d at 505; State v. Hoover, 594 S.W.2d 743 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1979).