Opinion ID: 2234498
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: venue and voir dire

Text: Schroeder was originally tried in the district court for Pawnee County. But on March 28, 2007, the jury deadlocked and the court declared a mistrial. Both the prosecution and the defense requested a change of venue for the retrial. The district court agreed that a fair and impartial trial could no longer be had in Pawnee County. The court ordered the venue moved to the district court for Richardson County, located in Falls City, Nebraska, approximately 40 miles by road from Pawnee City. The defense did not object to the new venue until the day of voir dire, when counsel argued that the move was not sufficiently far away. The court overruled the objection. The court also denied defense counsel's motions for supplemental jury questionnaires and individual voir dire. The court did agree to consider individual voir dire as needed. Ultimately, four jurors were questioned individually. As a result, the court dismissed two of those jurors for cause. The other two questioned were eliminated through the use of Schroeder's peremptory challenges. None of the jurors that Schroeder specifically challenged for cause served on the jury, although he made a general objection to the venire.