Opinion ID: 1707183
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: whether the trial court erred in transferring venue to adams county.

Text: ś 95. On August 25, 1993, the trial court transferred venue to Adams County for the limited purpose of jury selection. To say that extensive publicity surrounded Donald Leroy Evans would be an understatement. Immediately surrounding the offense and the arrest of Evans, Mississippi was inundated with widespread and extensive media coverage. For example, in excess of 100 articles ran in the Sun Herald, which serves the Mississippi Gulf Coast area, and approximately 87 articles were published in the Clarion-Ledger, which serves the Jackson area. Following Evans' subsequent confessions to multiple murders across the country, media coverage was rampant on local, state and national levels. ś 96. Jury selection began on September 7, 1993, in Adams County. During voir dire, Evans made a motion ore tenus to renew the Motion for Change of Venue. Evans renewed his motion, citing adverse pre-trial publicity, and arguing that members of the venire had been prejudiced by newspaper articles which appeared in the Clarion-Ledger and the Natchez Democrat on the day of trial. Evans argued that the articles published by the Clarion-Ledger and the Natchez Democrat caused such news saturation in the community that there was a presumption that he could not receive a fair trial. Evans also argued that the Natchez Democrat article discussed high-level security measures taken by local authorities in preparation for the trial. Counsel argued that under the circumstances it is clear that the indication that the State has been given from Adams County that it is a very, very dangerous man that we have here. Evans argued that the article in the Clarion-Ledger was even more prejudicial because it contained a conversation with Tammy Giles, the mother of Beatrice Louise Routh. The trial court questioned the venire panel extensively about their knowledge of the case and the newspaper articles. Those individuals who indicated that they had read the article in the Clarion-Ledger were placed on the final panel. The trial court overruled Evans' renewed motion. ś 97. Defense counsel renewed the change of venue motion again after a media representative was observed taking pictures of the venire panel. The trial court conceded that panel members were photographed but overruled the motion. ś 98. As in Carr v. State, 655 So.2d 824, 840 (Miss.1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1076, 116 S.Ct. 782, 133 L.Ed.2d 733 (1996), the issue in this case is not whether a change of venue should have been granted, as it was indeed granted; but whether a second change of venue should have been granted.... There, this Court held: It is well-established in Mississippi that [t]he granting of a change in venue is a matter so largely in [the] discretion of the trial court that a judgment of conviction will not be reversed on appeal on the ground that a change of venue was refused, unless it clearly appears that trial court abused its discretion. Billiot v. State, 454 So.2d 445, 454 (Miss.1984)( quoting Parks v. State, 267 So.2d 302, 304 (Miss.1972)). However, Fisher v. State, 481 So.2d 203, 215 (Miss.1985), admonishes that the decision to change venue, although left to the sound discretion of the trial judge, is not one involving unfettered discretion. Id. ś 99. Upon proper application for a change of venue, a presumption arises that an impartial jury can not be obtained. Pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 99-15-35 (1972), proper application requires a written motion supported by affidavits of two or more witnesses showing that the defendant cannot have a fair and impartial trial in the particular county because of prejudgment of the case or grudge or ill will to the defendant in the public mind. Porter v. State, 616 So.2d 899, 906 (Miss.1993). [3] ś 100. However, the presumption that impartial jury can not be obtained may at times be irrebuttable. Elements which should serve to indicate an irrebuttable presumption are: (1) Capital cases based on consideration of a heightened standard of review; (2) Crowds threatening violence toward the accused; (3) An inordinate amount of media coverage, particularly in cases of (a) serious crimes against influential families; (b) serious crimes against public officials; (c) serial crimes; (d) crimes committed by a black defendant upon a white victim; (e) where there is inexperienced trial counsel. White v. State, 495 So.2d 1346, 1349 (Miss. 1986). ś 101. When reviewing whether the trial judge has so abused his discretion this Court will look to the completed trial including the voir dire examination of the jurors to ascertain if the defendants have received a fair and impartial trial. Billiot v. State, 454 So.2d 445, 455 (Miss.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1230, 105 S.Ct. 1232, 84 L.Ed.2d 369 (1985)( quoting Franklin v. State, 189 Miss. 142, 158-59, 196 So. 787, 789 (1940); Stevenson v. State, 325 So.2d 113, 118 (Miss.1975)). ś 102. Despite Evans' contentions, the trial judge did not abuse his discretion when selecting Adams County as the venue for purposes of jury selection. From August 1, 1991, the date on which Beatrice was abducted from Gulfport, until February 21, 1993, only twelve articles were published in the Natchez Democrat regarding the case. All of these articles were published on or before October 3, 1991. ś 103. Moreover, media coverage in Adams County was much less extensive than in other areas of the State. For example, the Sun Herald, which serves the Gulf Coast, published approximately one hundred and twenty articles and the Clarion Ledger published in excess of eighty articles. From August 1, 1991, to February 2, 1993, twenty-four articles appeared in the Enterprise Journal which serves areas surrounding and including McComb. Twenty-eight articles ran in The Picayune Item and twenty articles were published in The Daily Leader. The Hattiesburg American published approximately 49 articles. ś 104. Evans, conceding that no region of the State was immune from pre-trial publicity, argues that the situs of jury selection should have been transferred north of Highway 82 or to the northeastern portion of the state. The Delta-Democrat Times, which serves Greenville and surrounding areas, contained no articles about the Evans matter. However, as with other areas of the State, this area is reached by the Clarion-Ledger as well. ś 105. Moreover, the northeastern portion of the state was comparatively similar to Adams County in the amount of media exposure. The Oxford Eagle published fourteen articles. The Daily Sentinel-Star, serving Grenada and surrounding areas, published approximately thirteen articles and the Starkville Daily News published approximately ten articles. The Commercial Dispatch, serving the Columbus area, published approximately twelve articles. The trial court did not abuse his discretion in transferring venue to Adams County. ś 106. Evans also argues that venue should have been transferred following publication of articles on the first day of trial by the Clarion-Ledger and Natchez Democrat. The article published in the Natchez Democrat contained commentary by the trial judge as to why Adams County had been chosen as the site for jury selection. Additional comments from the Sheriff of Adams County discussed security measures taken in preparation for the trial. ś 107. The Clarion-Ledger article contained a detailed conversation with Tammy Giles, Beatrice's mother, wherein Giles expressed her sorrow and indicated that a plastic box with Beatrice's ashes was all that she had left of her daughter. Giles described Evans as someone she believed she could trust. The article also detailed the chronology of events of the Evans case beginning with Evans' arrest on August 5, 1991. The article stated that Evans led law enforcement to the body; pled guilty to a federal kidnapping charges; escaped from the Harrison County Jail; and confessed to multiple murders. ś 108. During voir dire, the trial judge allowed individual sequestered voir dire to question jurors about their knowledge of the case. Jurors were specifically questioned as to whether they had read these articles. Those jurors who had read the Clarion-Ledger were placed on the final venire panel. As noted by the State, there was less information about the case in the Natchez Democrat article than the jury will have as soon as the Court reads them the indictment. ś 109. Of the twelve jurors eventually impaneled to hear this matter, only three indicated they had read the Natchez Democrat article. Two of those jurors indicated that they read only a portion of the article. Each of these jurors indicated that they could set aside what they had read and rely only on the evidence presented at trial. None of the jurors which were actually impaneled read the article which appeared in the Clarion-Ledger. ś 110. A presumption of prejudice may be rebutted by the State's demonstration that an impartial jury was actually impaneled. Morgan v. State, 681 So.2d 82, 92 (Miss.1996). Based on voir dire proceedings it appears that an impartial jury was actually impaneled. The abduction and murder of Beatrice Louise Routh and Evans' subsequent claims to have murdered in excess of sixty people generated a tremendous amount of publicity throughout Mississippi and the United States. As in Simon v. State, 688 So.2d 791, 804 (Miss.1997), [i]t is unlikely that a change of venue to other area of this State would have resulted in a venire comprised of members who had not heard about the case in some form or fashion. There, this Court held that [t]he linchpin is whether the venire members stated that they could be fair and impartial jurors if chosen. Id. (citations omitted). Here, each juror indicated that they could be fair and impartial. ś 111. Moreover, as in Porter, [v]iewing the verdict rendered in light of the evidence presented, it does not seem that the State needed the benefit of a prejudiced jury for [Evans'] conviction. Porter, 616 So.2d at 906. After thorough review, we cannot conclude that the trial judge abused his discretion in refusing to grant an additional change of venue.