Opinion ID: 2594480
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Trial Court Properly Denied Defendant's Motion for a Change of Venue.

Text: Defendant argues the trial court should have granted his pretrial motion for a change of venue to a different county or for transfer to a different judicial district within the County of Los Angeles, citing news coverage of the case. A trial court should grant a motion for a change of venue when publicity has created a reasonable likelihood the defendant will not receive a fair trial in the county. (§ 1033, subd. (a).) The defendant, who has the burden of proof, need not prove that an unfair trial is more probable than a fair one, but he must prove more than a mere possibility of unfairness. ( People v. Jenkins (2000) 22 Cal.4th 900, 943, 95 Cal. Rptr.2d 377, 997 P.2d 1044.) In assessing the motion, the trial court considers the gravity and nature of the crime, the extent and nature of the publicity, the size of the community, and the status of the victim and the accused. ( Ibid. ) The same standards apply to a motion for an intracounty transfer. ( Id. at p. 945, 95 Cal.Rptr.2d 377, 997 P.2d 1044.) Here, defendant's moving papers merely cited four newspaper articles about the case and an unspecified television news report. This limited evidence belies his characterization of the coverage as extensive, multi-media ... publicity that flooded the public. Concerning the television report, defendant presented no evidence other than his counsel's vague declaration that this report occurred. The four newspaper articles appeared in local newspapers 15 months prior to the court's ruling on the motion for a change of venue. Defendant did not present evidence that news coverage continued more than a few weeks after the crimes occurred, and the coverage at the time of the crimes was not particularly inflammatory. The articles merely related, without editorial comment, much the same information the evidence later established. This sort of publicity is typical of many murder cases and certainly not so pervasive and continuing as to arouse the emotions of the community against defendant or otherwise deprive him of a fair trial. (See People v. Cummings (1993) 4 Cal.4th 1233, 1275, fn. 16, 1277, 18 Cal.Rptr.2d 796, 850 P.2d 1 [no need to change venue despite 51 newspaper articles and 24 television reports].) In fact, of the factors relevant to a motion for a change of venue, only the gravity and nature of defendant's crimes weigh in favor of granting the motion, but this factor alone does not necessitate a change of venue. ( People v. Jenkins, supra, 22 Cal.4th at p. 943, 95 Cal.Rptr.2d 377, 997 P.2d 1044.) Defendant argues that the victims' status as White women and his status as an Hispanic man tended to increase the community outrage against him, but the news coverage of the crimes did not mention race and only one article showed a picture of defendant. Defendant has not shown that racial issues undermined his ability to have a fair trial in Los Angeles County. Finally, in this context, defendant must do more than show trial court error; he must also show that he in fact did not receive a fair trial. ( People v. Jenkins, supra, 22 Cal.4th at p. 943, 95 Cal.Rptr.2d 377, 997 P.2d 1044.) Only two of the jurors who deliberated in defendant's case indicated they had heard or read a news report about the case. Neither juror could remember the substance of the report, and both stated they could decide the issues in the case without bias. Defendant also did not exercise peremptory challenges to remove these jurors. For these reasons, defendant has failed to establish that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a change of venue, and he has failed to establish prejudice. [2]