Opinion ID: 1827084
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Whether denial of his motions to change venue was error.

Text: Arguello claims denial of his motions to change venue denied his right to a fair and impartial trial under the Fourteenth and Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article VI, § 7 of the South Dakota Constitution. He argues change of venue was necessary because of prejudicial pretrial and trial publicity in the local press which was precipitated in part by comments of the State and its officers. The law presumes that a defendant can receive a fair trial in the county in which the offense is committed. State v. Weatherford, 416 N.W.2d 47, 50 (S.D.1987) (citations omitted). The burden of establishing the necessity of a change in venue is upon the Arguello. Id. (citations omitted). It shall be granted at the discretion of the trial court and we will reverse that decision only for abuse of discretion. State v. Wellner, 318 N.W.2d 324, 331 (S.D.1982) (citations omitted). Pretrial publicity alone is not enough to deny a fair trial or, in other words, to warrant a change in venue. Weatherford, 416 N.W.2d at 50-51 (citations omitted). If the jurors were unaware of the pretrial publicity or could not recall it, or if knowledge of the publicity did not cause a prejudicial opinion to be formed, a change of venue would be unwarranted. Id. at 51 (citations omitted). Arguello's claim that the jury could not have convicted him of aggravated assault on the basis of the evidence presented unless it was affected by the pretrial publicity is without merit. The trial judge granted Arguello's request to conduct individual voir dire of those jurors who had knowledge of the case. While five jurors who had heard about the case were on the jury, Arguello has failed to demonstrate that they had formed a prejudicial opinion. In Weatherford, eight of the twelve jurors chosen had read or heard about the case. On appeal, this court found no abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in denying the motion for change of venue. Id. at 52. Arguello has failed to meet his burden. We find no abuse of discretion. [1]