Court Opinion

ID: 9468301
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:11:38.712504+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:47.869945
License: Public Domain

LAY, Chief Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. It is my view that the defendants were denied a fair trial and that the district court erred in failing to grant the defendants’ pretrial motion for change of venue.
Senator Tom Eagleton represented all the potential jurors drawn from the general electorate in the State of Missouri. The trial was held approximately two weeks before the general election in which he was running for one of the highest offices in the nation. The majority opinion correctly suggests that the defendants could have moved to continue the trial until after the election. Yet, surely these defendants were not required to select between their constitutional right to a speedy trial and a fair one. Each of the potential jurors belonging to the general electorate had undoubtedly formed before the trial a personal impression of Senator Eagleton based upon the Senator’s many years of service to Missouri. In my judgment it was clear error for the trial court to assume that potential jurors could fully set aside these impressions in a trial where the Senator was a central figure. Such an assumption is totally unrealistic. This case involved the Senator’s reputation for truth and veracity as much as it did the defendants’. The Senator’s word was on trial as much as the defendants’. If Senator Eagleton had been the defendant charged, there can be little doubt that under such circumstances the court would have granted a change of venue if he had moved for one. The trial judge's attempt to question the potential jurors in camera demonstrates his own concern that a fair selection of a jury could be troublesome.1 Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 722-23, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 1642, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961). It is clear to me that the motion for change of venue should have been granted. Any other ruling must speculate as to possible unknown prejudice; that is something to which no defendant in a criminal case should ever be subjected.
*961It is argued that change of venue was not needed because the voir dire examination of potential jurors gave no hint of prejudice for or against Senator Eagleton. Although voir dire can uncover prejudice among potential jurors, the absence of prejudicial answers cannot be equated with the absence of prejudice. A juror may consciously or subconsciously harbor prejudice and bias on sensitive subject matter. The nod of the head in response to the basic inquiry of “Can you be fair?” should provide little satisfaction in a case electrified by sensitive issues such as the one at bar. It should be obvious that such prejudice cannot always be elicited by merely questioning the jurors. Cf. Rideau v. Louisiana, 373 U.S. 723, 83 S.Ct. 1417, 10 L.Ed.2d 663 (1961); Marshall v. United States, 360 U.S. 310, 79 S.Ct. 1171, 3 L.Ed.2d 1250 (1959); United States v. Davis, 583 F.2d 190, 197 (5th Cir. 1978); United States v. Williams, 568 F.2d 464 (5th Cir. 1978); United States v. Bear Runner, 502 F.2d 908 (8th Cir. 1974); United States v. Engleman, 489 F.Supp. 48 (E.D.Mo.1980); People v. McKay, 37 Cal.2d 792, 236 P.2d 145 (Cal.1951) (Traynor, J.); American Bar Ass’n Project Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice, Standards Relating to Fair Trial and Free Press, § 3.2, Commentary at 121 — 28 (Approved Draft 1968); Broeder, Voir Dire Examinations: An Empirical Study, 38 S.Cal.L.Rev. 503 (1965).
The trial court was not dealing with the normal criminal case. A popular incumbent such as Senator Eagleton will always be in the news, but surely the trial court should have considered the massive amount of public attention he received as the election drew near. Any political election and the resulting publicity are likely to create a supercharged atmosphere. Tenacious sides are drawn not only as to issues, but also as to individual personalities of the candidates. Politics creates intense interest in many citizens; emotions can run high and some of the citizenry may possess an almost religious fervor as an election draws near. Man’s political nature is basic to his existence. It was once said “neither philosophy nor policy can shut out the feelings of nature.” J. Story, Miscellaneous Writings 80. Political beliefs, much like religious convictions, are one’s own business.- There was little likelihood, as both sides concede, that these beliefs could be subjected to cross-examination. Once this was acknowledged, it should have been obvious that Senator Eagleton was the central focus of each individual juror’s political belief.
The majority is persuaded that those who disliked Senator Eagleton could balance out those who support him. However, a man who is reelected to the Senate three times is unlikely to have as many detractors as supporters. Nevertheless, assuming that there would be such a balance, the argument is still rather weak. It is tantamount to saying that if three jurors are biased against the defendant, the jury is impartial so long as three other jurors are not.
The record demonstrates that the trial judge took special care to voir dire jurors individually and outside the presence of each other. He also made an earnest effort to reach and bring forth latent prejudice. Still, the special situation of this case prevents the effectiveness of voir dire. When asked whether he or she can be impartial, it is the rare individual who will say “no.” Similarly, it is the rare partisan of Senator Eagleton who would concede that he or she would give greater weight to the Senator’s testimony than to another’s.
A change of venue is required when the minds of the inhabitants of the community in which the cause is pending may be so prejudiced that a fair trial cannot be had therein. Cf. Mo.Rev.Stat. § 545.030 (1949). Community prejudice may appear and influence an otherwise impartial jury when the defendant is somehow different than the rest of the community. Cf. United States ex rel. Brown v. Smith, 200 F.Supp. 885 (D.Vt.1961), rev’d 306 F.2d 596 (2d Cir. 1962), cert. denied, 372 U.S. 959, 83 S.Ct. 1012, 10 L.Ed.2d 11 (1963) (Jewish man who recently settled in Vermont town made enemies as proprietor of cut rate drug store). However, community prejudice may also exist where the victim of the crime is well-respected by the community. People v. McKay, 37 Cal.2d 792, 236 P.2d 145 (Cal. 1951).
*962Senator Eagleton was recently reelected to his third term. There is little doubt that he was and is respected by the vast majority of the citizens of the State of Missouri. Because of his status and fame he possessed a relationship with each potential juror that is unlike that of any other person in Missouri. This community sentiment could easily be translated into community prejudice against the defendants accused of extorting him. In my judgment there existed a reasonable likelihood that community prejudice existed to such an extent that the defendants could not be guaranteed a fair trial. Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333, 362-3, 86 S.Ct. 1507, 1522, 16 L.Ed.2d 600 (1965). In Sheppard the Court held that the court has “the duty to make an independent evaluation of the circumstances” and where there is reasonable likelihood that prejudice might “prevent a fair trial, the judge should continue the case ... or transfer it.... ” Id. While publicity about the trial itself may not have been inflammatory, the supercharged atmosphere of the impending election, the publicity and notoriety of Senator Eagleton and the trial, the unique relationship of the Senator to the political beliefs of each of the potential jurors and the obvious focus upon the Senator’s integrity and credibility in the issues tried mandated in my judgment a transfer of this trial outside the State of Missouri.
I conclude the trial court abused its discretion in denying defendants’ motion for change of venue and the cause should be remanded for a new trial.

. See In re United States ex rel. Pulitzer Pub. Co., 635 F.2d 676 (8th Cir. 1980).