Opinion ID: 1881923
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: strike venire and change of venue

Text: Because some other issues may occur on retrial we resolve several other claims of error by Brooks. Brooks argues that the trial court erred in denying his motions to strike the venire and change venue because the pretrial publicity in this case denied Brooks a fair and impartial trial. This Court has provided the following test to determine whether a change of venue is necessary because of pretrial publicity: The test for determining change of venue is whether the general state of mind of the inhabitants of a community is so infected by knowledge of the incident and the accompanying prejudice, bias, 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)). Before ruling on such a motion, trial courts are ordinarily permitted to attempt to empanel a jury. See Henyard v. State, 689 So.2d 239, 245 (Fla.1996). This process provides trial courts with an opportunity to determine through the voir dire examination of prospective jurors whether it is actually possible to find individuals who have not been so infected by the pretrial publicity that they are unable to independently review the evidence at trial. See Rolling, 695 So.2d at 285. To be qualified as a juror, a person need not be completely ignorant of the facts of the case. See id. Rather, the issue may turn on the nature and extent of the pretrial information the juror has acquired and an analysis as to whether a juror can lay aside his impression or opinion based upon any pretrial information and render a verdict based on the evidence presented in court. Id. (quoting Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 723, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961)). As with other pretrial motions, [a] motion for change of venue is addressed to the trial court's discretion and will not be overturned on appeal absent a palpable abuse of discretion. Cole v. State, 701 So.2d 845, 854 (Fla.1997). Admittedly, most jurors called in the instant case had some knowledge about the case. However, in response, the trial judge conducted individual voir dire regarding pretrial publicity and the jurors' views on the death penalty. Importantly, the record reflects that the trial court liberally granted Brooks' challenges for cause to those jurors who indicated that because of their exposure to the case, they might have had difficulty giving Brooks a fair trial. Finally, as noted by the State, all jurors who eventually sat on Brooks' case assured the court that their prior knowledge would not affect their impartiality and that they could decide the case solely on the evidence presented and the instructions given by the court. Therefore, we find no abuse of discretion in denying Brooks' motion to change the venue to another location. See Cole, 701 So.2d at 853-54.