Opinion ID: 2537633
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Whether the trial court erred in transferring venue to Union County.

Text: ¶ 47. Fulgham filed a motion to change venue based on the pervasive media attention to her trial and the trial of her codefendant, Tyler Edmonds. [50] In her motion, Fulgham asserted that the court should transfer venue to a county with at least the same population of black citizens as Oktibbeha County. She further argued that the counties adjoining Oktibbeha County were tainted as a result of the media coverage by the Starkville, Columbus, and Tupelo media outlets. She requested that the trial court transfer venue to Attala, Grenada, Madison, or Warren County. ¶ 48. After a hearing on the motion to transfer venue, at which the State asserted that it had no objection to a change of venue outside Oktibbeha County, the court granted the motion. But it reserved ruling on a particular county until suitability and availability were determined. Thereafter, the trial court ordered that the jury should be drawn from Union County, and Fulgham filed an objection to this county. In her objection, Fulgham argued that the Tupelo media provides Union County with news coverage, and therefore, the transfer did not remedy the taint. She further argued that the racial demographics of Union County were not comparable to Oktibbeha County. [51] ¶ 49. The court held a hearing on Fulgham's objection to transfer venue to Union County, and she presented no argument but stood on her written motions. The State argued that Fulgham had no right to change venue to a county of similar racial demographics, and that there is no requirement that a court transfer out of the original media market. The trial court ruled that race was not at issue in the case, and that it failed to see the relevance of racial demographics. The trial court further ruled that there was no reason to believe that the citizens of Union County would not apply the law as instructed. The court also noted that it had checked with three other counties for availability prior to contacting Union County, and it overruled Fulgham's objection. ¶ 50. On appeal, Fulgham argues that the trial court erred in refusing to transfer venue to another county, and such error deprived her of the right to a fair and impartial jury which represented a cross-section of the Oktibbeha County community. This Court reviews a trial court's decision to grant or deny a change of venue for abuse of discretion. [52] Further, the accused has a right to a change of venue when it is doubtful that an impartial jury can be obtained; such doubt is implicit when there is present strong public sentiment against the defendant[.] [53] ¶ 51. We find the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Fulgham's objection to transferring the case to Union County. Only eleven jurors of the venire responded that they had heard or seen pretrial publicity related to Fulgham's and/or Tyler Edmonds's trial. None of these potential jurors was seated on the jury. Therefore, Fulgham's argument that she failed to receive a fair and impartial trial has no merit. ¶ 52. We further find that Simon v. State is dispositive of Fulgham's argument regarding her right to change venue to a county of similar demographics. [54] In Simon, the trial court granted the defendant's motion to change venue based on widespread publicity in Quitman County. [55] However, the defendant objected to the trial court's transfer of venue to Jones County, because twenty-one percent of the registered voters in Jones County were African-American compared to fifty-four percent in Quitman County. [56] On appeal, this Court held that the defendant had no right to a change of venue to a jurisdiction with racial demographics similar to those in the county where the offense occurred. [57] The Court ruled that [n]othing in our constitutions, statutes, or case law gives a criminal defendant the right to obtain a venue of his choosing by making repeated motions for a change of venue. [58] Under this Court's holding in Simon, this assignment of error fails.