Opinion ID: 1118222
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Pretrial Publicity and Change of Venue

Text: After Harvey moved to dismiss the charges or for change of venue due to pretrial publicity, the court reserved the question until trial in an order filed November 29, 1989. On December 27, 1989, the court issued a pretrial order stating: The Court also indicated that if a jury could not be obtained in Sweetwater County during the week of January 8, [1990] the Court would be inclined to move the case to either Uinta or Lincoln counties for trial during the week of January 15, 1990. Jury selection began on January 8, 1990, and concluded on January 11, 1990. Voir dire occupies over 900 pages of transcript in the record. Some 74 persons were examined for the jury in this case. Each juror was examined individually concerning his or her knowledge about the earlier trial and subsequent reversal. Of the 74 persons examined, only ten persons stated that they had no knowledge of the previous convictions. However, 43 persons stated they had formed no opinion as to Harvey's guilt or innocence. After seating a jury, Harvey renewed his motion. The court found that the jury as seated would be fair and impartial and denied the motion. We have summarized our procedure for determining whether the trial court correctly ruled on a motion for change of venue due to pretrial publicity as follows: It is the burden of the defendant to show prejudice so great that a fair trial cannot be obtained, Collins v. State, [589 P.2d 1283 (Wyo.1979)], and the defendant must show actual prejudice in the minds of jurors. Wilcox v. State, Wyo., 670 P.2d 1116, 1119 (1983). Because of this, the motion for a change of venue cannot be logically passed on until the extent of prejudice, if any, is determined upon voir dire examination. Moss v. State, [492 P.2d 1329, 1331 (Wyo.1972)].    The ultimate test of the propriety of a change of venue is what is revealed in voir dire of the jury panel.    Shaffer v. State, Wyo., 640 P.2d 88, 103, 31 A.L.R.4th 166 (1982). The judge's ruling on venue is subject to review only for an abuse of discretion. Murray v. State, Wyo., 671 P.2d 320, 326 (1983); Jackson v. State, Wyo., 522 P.2d 1356, cert. denied 419 U.S. 1055, 95 S.Ct. 637, 42 L.Ed.2d 652 (1974); Mares v. State, Wyo., 500 P.2d 530, 535 (1972). We have adopted a two-pronged test for determining whether a change of venue should be granted because of pretrial publicity. First, the nature and extent of the publicity must be considered; second, the difficulty or ease in selecting a jury must be considered along with the amount of prejudice which actually appears during voir dire examination. Murray v. State, supra . Each of these elements must be considered in order to determine whether the court abused its discretion in denying the change of venue. It is to be expected that most of the jury panel will have heard about a sensational case, but there is no requirement that a juror be ignorant of the facts and issues involved in a case. Wilcox v. State, supra . The totality of the circumstances must indicate the presence of improper prejudice. Weddle v. State, Wyo., 621 P.2d 231 (1980). The question focuses on whether a fair jury was ultimately selected. Shaffer v. State, supra . Murry v. State, 713 P.2d 202, 208 (Wyo. 1986) (emphasis added). Our application of the first-prong of this test is somewhat handicapped in that evidence in the record of the pretrial publicity is limited mainly to questioning of potential jurors on voir dire about their knowledge of the case. Outside the record from the trial court, reprints of newspaper articles concerning the case were provided by Harvey in an appendix to his brief. Normally we do not consider matters outside the record on appeal. Collins v. State, 589 P.2d 1283, 1290 (Wyo.1979). However, we take judicial notice of these and the amount of publicity on the reversal of Harvey's earlier conviction and the filing of the conspiracy charges generated in order to ensure Harvey effective assistance of appellate counsel. 37 Gambling Devices v. State, 694 P.2d 711, 716 (Wyo.1985); Stice v. State, 799 P.2d 1204, 1207 (Wyo. 1990). This case, from announcement of the reversal of the earlier conviction to coverage culminating in the commencement of trial proceedings, received more publicity than most criminal cases receive. The newspaper accounts of the events were fair and balanced. Some letters to the editors and editorial columns indicate that these events sparked certain emotions in people. We do note the material submitted in the appendix to Harvey's brief is not one-sided. Some material considers the rights involved in our decision in Harvey I and makes for a lively and informed debate on these issues. The amount and nature of the publicity requires us to examine the effect it had on the jury. It is apparent that Harvey received a fair and impartial jury through a long, involved and careful jury selection. Well over half of the persons called for jury duty stated during voir dire that they had formed no opinion as to Harvey's guilt or innocence despite whatever they knew about the case. See Murry, 713 P.2d 202. Out of this group, a jury was selected that exhibited no prejudice apparent in the record. The fact that this jury acquitted Harvey on one of the conspiracy counts is further indication that the members of the jury carefully considered the evidence without prejudice. We find no error in the court's denial of Harvey's motion for a change of venue or outright dismissal of the charges.