Opinion ID: 577188
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Change of venue and sequestration of jury

Text: 45 Appellants contend that the lower court's denial of their motions to change the venue of the trial and to sequester the jury deprived them of a panel of impartial, 'indifferent' jurors. 12 Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 722, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 1642, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961); see Coleman v. Zant, 708 F.2d 541, 544 (11th Cir.1983). To show that the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to change the venue, the appellants must establish either that they were actually prejudiced or that the nature of the surrounding publicity requires a presumption of prejudice. United States v. De La Vega, 913 F.2d 861, 864 (11th Cir.1990); Bundy v. Dugger, 850 F.2d at 1424-25. Only a showing of actual prejudice will demonstrate that the lower court abused its discretion by failing to sequester the jury. United States v. Hill, 496 F.2d 201, 203 (5th Cir.1974); see Baldwin v. Blackburn, 653 F.2d 942, 948 (5th Cir. Aug. 1981), cert. denied, 457 U.S. 1112, 102 S.Ct. 2918, 73 L.Ed.2d 1323 (1982). 46
47 A criminal defendant is not constitutionally entitled to trial by jurors ignorant about relevant issues and events. United States v. Padilla-Martinez, 762 F.2d 942, 951 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 952, 106 S.Ct. 320, 88 L.Ed.2d 302 (1985); see Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 722, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 1642, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961). The relevant question is not whether the community remembered the case, but whether the jurors ... had such fixed opinions that they could not judge impartially the guilt of the defendant. Patton v. Yount, 467 U.S. 1025, 1035, 104 S.Ct. 2885, 2891, 81 L.Ed.2d 847 (1984). In determining the existence of presumptive prejudice, a court must consider the totality of the circumstances, including the type of pretrial publicity, the time lapse between peak publicity and the trial, and the credibility of prospective jurors who indicate during voir dire that they could be impartial despite having been exposed to pretrial publicity about the case. Coleman v. Kemp, 778 F.2d at 1538; Calley v. Callaway, 519 F.2d 184, 208 (5th Cir.1975) (en banc). We note that the presumptive prejudice standard ... is only 'rarely' applicable ... and is reserved for an 'extreme situation.'  Coleman, 778 F.2d at 1537 (citations omitted). In short, the burden placed upon the petitioner to show that pretrial publicity deprived him of his right to a fair trial before an impartial jury is an extremely heavy one. Id.; see Bundy, 850 F.2d at 1424. 48 The most egregious instances of pretrial publicity included characterizations of Lehder as a drug kingpin, a term of art under the CCE statute. The media also accurately reported an in-court description of Lehder as a narco-terrorist. References to Lehder's fascination with the Third Reich were only occasional and largely factual. See Cummings, 862 F.2d at 1511. Such publicity, while unfavorable, did not reach the extreme levels required to trigger a finding of presumed prejudice. See, e.g., Rideau v. Louisiana, 373 U.S. 723, 83 S.Ct. 1417, 10 L.Ed.2d 663 (1963) (televising videotaped confession by defendant over local television station to audiences of 24,000, 52,000, and 29,000 in community of 150,000); Coleman, 778 F.2d 1487 (reporting defendant's confession in widely circulated newspaper in small rural community, accompanied by editorial discussing whether defendant could receive fair trial in that county). 49 The substantial lapse of time between the peak publicity and the trial also weighs against a finding of prejudice. See Nebraska Press Ass'n v. Stuart, 427 U.S. 539, 554, 96 S.Ct. 2791, 2800, 49 L.Ed.2d 683 (1976). The peak publicity in this case occurred at the time of Lehder's arrest in February 1987, and again when his retained counsel held a press conference in April 1987. Eight news items preceded Lehder's arrest. Between the time of Lehder's arrest in February 1987 and the time of the press conference in April, there were 85 media items. 13 From May 1987 until the beginning of the trial in October 1987, there were only 37 media items, not including six articles dealing with drugs and drug problems unrelated to the case. This total includes eight articles spawned by Lehder's letter to President Bush in which he offered to cooperate in exchange for immunity. Because the peaks of publicity occurred many months before the beginning of the trial, we fail to find a  'barrage of inflammatory publicity immediately prior to trial'  sufficient to demonstrate presumptive prejudice. Patton v. Yount, 467 U.S. at 1033, 104 S.Ct. at 2889 (quoting Murphy v. Florida, 421 U.S. 794, 798, 95 S.Ct. 2031, 2035, 44 L.Ed.2d 589 (1975)); see Calley v. Callaway, 519 F.2d at 208. 50 The jurors also credibly indicated that they could be impartial. In Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. at 717, 81 S.Ct. at 1639, the Supreme Court found presumptive prejudice where 370 of 430 venire-persons expressed some opinion about the defendant's guilt during voir dire. In comparison, only eighteen of the 117 venire-persons in the instant case had formed an opinion about the defendants' guilt prior to trial. Moreover, the extensive voir dire revealed that most of the prospective jurors had not closely followed the media coverage of the case. In light of these facts we conclude that the eighteen jurors and alternate jurors chosen had credibly asserted that they could remain impartial. See Calley v. Callaway, 519 F.2d at 208-09. 14 We therefore find that the totality of the circumstances provides no basis for concluding that the community was ... so inflamed and biased [ ] as to create a presumption of prejudice that a fair and impartial jury panel could not be impaneled. United States v. De La Vega, 913 F.2d at 865. 51
52 Appellants likewise fail to demonstrate actual prejudice. The actual prejudice standard requires appellants to establish that one or more jurors entertained an opinion before the trial that the defendants were guilty and [to] show that these jurors could not put this prejudice aside and render a verdict based solely on the evidence presented. Id. When presented with a claim of actual prejudice, the reviewing court will not disturb the trial court's finding of juror impartiality absent a finding of manifest error. Patton v. Yount, 467 U.S. 1025, 1031, 104 S.Ct. 2885, 2889, 81 L.Ed.2d 847 (1984); Cummings, 862 F.2d at 1509. 53 Appellants speculate that those jurors who were exposed to third-party comments about the trial or who expressed a general dislike of drugs harbored prejudicial bias against appellants. This allegation finds no support in the record. No juror eventually impanelled expressed bias or hostility toward appellants. Even assuming that these jurors had preformed opinions of appellants' guilt, appellants provide no evidence showing that these jurors were unable to put aside such opinions. See United States v. Cousins, 842 F.2d 1245, 1248 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 853, 109 S.Ct. 139, 102 L.Ed.2d 111 (1988). To the contrary, all impanelled jurors asserted during their voir dire that they would determine the case solely on the evidence presented and would set aside any feelings they might have regarding relevant issues. Because the trial court's finding of impartiality was thus not manifest error, see De La Vega, 913 F.2d at 865; Cummings, 862 F.2d at 1510-11, the trial court properly denied appellants' motions for a change of venue and sequestration of the jury. 15