Opinion ID: 1826632
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the trial court erroneously changed trial venue.

Text: Beech et al. claim that the court abused its discretion in changing venue. They first assert that the defendant's petition for change of venue was not in proper form, because it wasn't signed by one of the parties, and was not filed in a timely fashion. The court granted the defendants' motion for change of venue pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 11-11-51. That statute reads as follows: When either party to any civil action in the circuit court shall desire to change the venue, he shall present to the court, or the judge of the district, a petition setting forth under oath that he has good reason to believe, and does believe that, from the undue influence of the adverse party, prejudice existing in the public mind, or for some other sufficient cause to be stated in the petition, he cannot obtain a fair and impartial trial in the county where the action is pending, and that the application is made as soon as convenient after being advised of such undue influence, prejudice, or other cause, and not to delay the trial or to vex or harass the adverse party. On reasonable notice in writing to the adverse party of the time and place of making the application, if made in vacation, the court, if in term time, or the judge in vacation, shall hear the parties and examine the evidence which either may adduce, and may award a change of venue to some convenient county where an impartial trial may be had, and, if practicable, in which the circuit court may next be held. If made in vacation, the order shall be indorsed on the petition and directed to the clerk, who shall file the same with the papers in the suit. Miss. Code Ann. § 11-11-51. The defendants filed their motion for change of venue on March 22, 1993, nearly two years after the action was commenced in the Circuit Court of George County. However, the motion was filed a full three months before the trial began on June 22, 1993. This Court has previously held that a change of venue motion filed within one month of trial should have been granted. Mississippi State Highway Comm'n, 128 So.2d at 355-58. The trial in this case was not delayed as a result of the change of venue, and a plain reading of § 11-11-51 clearly shows that the requirement of a timely filing is intended to prevent a party from filing a change of venue motion simply as a delay tactic. Since part of the basis of the change of venue motion was the amount of pre-trial publicity, it would have been premature to file such a motion so long before the trial that the effects of the publicity would have been too remote for a determination of resulting prejudice in the community. Based upon all of these facts, it cannot be said that the change of venue motion filed three months before the trial, and not resulting in any trial delay, was untimely. Plaintiffs' argument that the change of venue motion was improper because it lacked the parties' signatures is also without merit. The petition for change of venue was signed by Lee Davis Thames, attorney for the defendants. There is no requirement that a petition for change of venue be signed by the party himself and not by the attorney. Beech et al. point to Lane v. Woodland Hills Baptist Church, 285 So.2d 901, 905 (Miss. 1973), in which this Court held that the appellants in a will contest were not bound by their attorney's stipulation which would have surrendered their rights to any relief. While this Court determined that an attorney generally has no authority to bind his client as to matters of law, this Court also recognized that in certain cases, an attorney may have the authority to do so if such admission or stipulation is a proper step in the accomplishment of the purpose for which he is employed. Id. (citations omitted). The current case differs from Lane, because it does not involve a stipulation or admission, and rather than waiving any rights, the attorney for Leaf River asserted the right to a fair trial in a less biased venue. Beech et al. also point to Vance v. Vance, 197 Miss. 332, 20 So.2d 825, 825-27 (1945), in which this Court stated, The rule is that if a statute specifically prescribes who shall make a certain affidavit, it can be made by none other than the person specified, although there is nothing in the language of the statute to show that its designation was intended to be exclusive. Id., 20 So.2d at 826 (citation omitted) (remanding a divorce case in order for the party to personally sign the complaint for divorce, which had previously been signed by his attorney). Beech et al. argue that because § 11-11-51 states that the party shall present the change of venue petition under oath to the court, then the petition should have been signed by the party and not the attorney. However, in this case, the defendant corporation, being a figural entity, obviously cannot sign a petition. An attorney for a corporation may act as its agent in receiving service of process under Mississippi's long-arm statute, and a corporation's attorney may sign a conveyance to transfer the corporation's land. Miss. Code Ann. §§ 13-3-57 and 89-1-21. It should therefore be sufficient for the corporation's attorney to act as its agent in signing a change of venue petition. Plaintiffs also argue that the court should have conducted voir dire and heard argument and evidence from the plaintiffs before its ruling, instead of relying solely on the exhibits attached to the defendants' petition. However, this Court has previously recognized the ineffectiveness of voir dire in detecting juror bias created by pre-trial publicity. Fisher v. State, 481 So.2d 203, 220-21 (Miss. 1985). Since jurors are aware that they are supposed to be impartial, they are unlikely to reveal any bias, even if they recognize it in themselves. Id. The plaintiffs filed a brief in response to the change of venue petition, so they were not denied the opportunity to be heard. The defendants presented sufficient evidence in the form of affidavits, depositions, newspaper articles, videotapes of news stories, and other exhibits to support their petition for change of venue. The evidence showed that of the 8,909 residents of George County eligible for jury duty, 750 were plaintiffs in dioxin cases brought against the defendants in this case. Even more were potential class members in a class action against the same defendants certified in the Circuit Court of Jackson County in October of 1992, Hubbard v. Leaf River Forest Products, Inc., which was vacated in October of 1993, after this trial was finished. One exhibit listed over three hundred news articles printed on the dioxin cases in local newspapers between November of 1989 and February of 1993. Taking these numbers into consideration, the trial court reasonably determined that the excessive pre-trial publicity and large number of potential jurors involved in similar litigation would prevent the defendants from receiving a fair trial in George County. Beech et al. also complain that the court failed to consider the alternatives to change of venue set out in Hudson v. Taleff, 546 So.2d 359, 363 (Miss. 1989). In Hudson this Court stated that the unfair trial resulting from the statistical aberration of the venire makeup could have been avoided by the trial court granting additional peremptory challenges, increasing the size of the venire, or sustaining challenges for cause. Id. (quoting Mhoon v. State, 464 So.2d 77, 81 (Miss. 1985)). However, change of venue was not even mentioned in Hudson, so trial courts are certainly not bound by that case to consider alternatives to change of venue. The language in Hudson clearly creates mere suggestions for alleviating venire bias in a large county. Id. Hudson does not require use of those suggestions, especially in a lesser populated county such as George County. Plaintiffs also rely on Hudson in arguing that Jackson County would have been a more appropriate county for change of venue purposes. However, their reliance is misplaced, because Hudson merely says that larger counties are more able to use the suggested means of alleviating venire bias; it does not remotely suggest that changes of venue should be limited to transfers to larger counties for use of those means. The change of venue was reasonable in light of the extensive pretrial publicity and the citizen bias against the defendants created by the number of George County residents who have brought similar dioxin cases against the defendants. These bases for change of venue were properly presented to the trial court through Leaf River's petition. Upon proper consideration, the trial court determined that the evidence supported the defendants' request for change of venue. The trial court's decision cannot be said to have been an abuse of discretion, so we do not reverse based upon this assignment of error.