Opinion ID: 1684899
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to Challenge the Denial of the Motion to Change Venue

Text: Overton contends that his appellate counsel was ineffective for the failure to present on appeal the improper denial of his motion to change venue. The record clearly establishes that Overton's trial counsel requested a change of venue due to alleged pretrial publicity. Generally, to determine a change of venue, the test is: [W]hether the general state of mind of the inhabitants of a community is so infected by knowledge of the incident and accompanying prejudice, bias, and preconceived opinions that jurors could not possibly put these matters out of their minds and try the case solely on the evidence presented in the courtroom. Rolling v. State, 695 So.2d 278, 284 (Fla. 1997) (quoting McCaskill v. State, 344 So.2d 1276, 1278 (Fla.1977)). In ruling on a motion for a change of venue, the trial court should consider the following: (1) the extent and nature of any pretrial publicity; and (2) the difficulty encountered in actually selecting a jury. Rolling, 695 So.2d at 285. The ability to seat an impartial jury in a high-profile case may be demonstrated by either a lack of extrinsic knowledge among members of the venire or, assuming such knowledge, a lack of partiality. Id. (citing Oats v. State, 446 So.2d 90, 93 (Fla.1984)). Moreover, the existence of pretrial publicity does not necessarily require a change of venue, but instead, pretrial publicity should be examined in light of the following factors: (1) when the publicity occurred in relation to the time of the crime and the trial; (2) whether the publicity was made up of factual or inflammatory stories; (3) whether the publicity favored the prosecutions side of the story; (4) the size of the community exposed to the publicity; and (5) whether the defendant exhausted all of his peremptory challenges in seating the jury. State v. Knight, 866 So.2d 1195, 1209 (Fla.2003). Finally, a trial court's failure to grant a motion for a change of venue is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. See Rivera v. State, 859 So.2d 495, 511 (Fla.2003). Here, the underlying claim that the trial court erred in its denial of Overton's motion to change venue is without merit because we conclude that under the two-prong test to evaluate that ruling, the trial court's denial of the motion was not an abuse of discretion. Thus, appellate counsel was not ineffective for the failure to assert this issue on direct appeal.
With the pretrial publicity here, the record does not establish that the jurors could not possibly put these matters out of their minds. Rolling, 695 So.2d at 284. First, the publicity consisted of largely factual articles, rather than inflammatory stories. [23] The factual information in newspaper articles included the following: (1) Overton was indicted in the MacIvor killings, and the charges he faced were listed; (2) people who knew Overton were shocked to discover the charges he faced based upon their past positive dealings with him; (3) Overton's DNA did not match with other unsolved murders; (4) a new judge (Judge Jones) was appointed in the case; (5) advertisements were placed on billboards to gather potential leads in the case; (6) an ailing witness was allowed to have his testimony perpetuated in Pennsylvania; (7) Overton denied involvement in the MacIvor murders; (8) Overton considered whether to act as his own lawyer; (9) defense counsel requested that DNA evidence be excluded; (10) Overton claimed to be a victim of a police plot and would prove such through the Nonoxynol theory; and (11) details of the funeral services for the MacIvors. Conversely, the material did contain some inflammatory items including: (1) many of the stories did mention Overton's past criminal activity as a burglar; (2) a description that Overton [had] been in trouble since he was a youngster; (3) a description that Overton was institutionalized for mental health problems in the past; and (4) the DNA results established that there was a one-in-six-billion chance that anyone but Overton committed the crime. Notwithstanding some inflammatory matters, it was reasonable for the trial court to conclude that the pretrial publicity was largely factual, rather than inflammatory. See Rolling, 695 So.2d at 284 (holding that notwithstanding that the case generated massive pretrial publicity, a motion to change venue was not improperly denied as such pretrial publicity was not presumptively prejudicial because it consisted of `straight news stories,' relating `cold, hard facts'). Second, much of this largely factual information was even beneficial to Overton. For example, one newspaper article illustrated that Overton's DNA did not match with the DNA evidence from other unsolved murders. Thus, it was reasonable for the trial court to conclude that the pretrial publicity did not completely favor the prosecution's version of the case. Accordingly, these factors do not support the assertion that the trial court abused its discretion in denying the motion to change venue.
Notwithstanding that some pretrial publicity did exist here, the record establishes that the jurors were not so infected that they could not possibly put these matters out of their minds. Rolling, 695 So.2d at 284; see Knight, 866 So.2d at 1209 (holding that there was no abuse of discretion for denying the motion to change venue because although there had been some publicity surrounding the murder, an independent review of the record demonstrates that there was no difficulty in seating the jury). During voir dire, most of the prospective jurors assured the trial court that they could be impartial despite any extrinsic knowledge. Overton does not provide any reason why this demonstrated jury impartiality has been rebutted. See Rolling, 695 So.2d at 286 (discussing that although not dispositive, assurances from prospective jurors that they are impartial despite their extrinsic knowledge support the presumption of a jury's impartiality). Moreover, Overton does not and cannot contend that any of the prospective jurors who stated they could not be impartial due to their extrinsic knowledge actually entered the jury box as a member of the venire. Instead, it appears from the record that the trial court was able to obtain a jury of impartial jurors from an even greater pool of prospective jurors who confirmed that they could be impartial. Thus, there is no established prejudice that resulted from any of the pretrial publicity. [24] See Rivera, 859 So.2d at 511 (holding that there was no ineffective assistance due to appellate counsel's failure to challenge the trial court's denial of the motion to change venue because the defendant failed to show actual prejudice ). It is reasonable to conclude that the selection of the venire was not such a difficult process that it reflected a pervasive community bias against Overton. Rolling, 695 So.2d at 287. Accordingly, this certainly does not support Overton's argument that an abuse of discretion occurred under the second prong, which analyzes any difficulty encountered in the actual selection of a jury. In conclusion, appellate counsel was not ineffective for the failure to challenge the trial court's denial of the motion to change venue because had it been presented, the claim would have likely been found to have no merit.