Court Opinion

ID: 9672921
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:02:52.591696+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:19.238114
License: Public Domain

*324Hallows, C. J.
(concurring). I concur in the result only of the majority opinion because I believe with the minority that an accused has a constitutional right to a fair trial in misdemeanor cases and to attain that end may have a change of venue if he shows community prejudice. The minority opinion well states the view that sec. 956.03 (3), Stats., is regulatory only of this basic right to a fair trial and is not exclusive by implication. The right to a change of venue to secure a fair trial is consistent with my belief that an accused has a constitutional right to an attorney in all misdemeanor cases, which was expressed in Sparkman v. State (1965), 27 Wis. 2d 92, 102, 133 N. W. 2d 776, and again in the dissent in State ex rel. Plutshack v. H&SS Department (1968), 37 Wis. 2d 713, 727, 155 N. W. 2d 549, 157 N. W. 2d 567.
I differ with the minority in its remedy in this case. To these facts I would apply the harmless-error rule as stated in Whitty v. State (1967), 34 Wis. 2d 278, 149 N. W. 2d 557, certiorari denied, 390 U. S. 959, 88 Sup. Ct. 1056, 19 L. Ed. 2d 1155. Not every violation of a constitutional right requires a reversal or a new trial. Prejudice resulting from error or the denial of a constitutional right must be shown. In the instant case, the defendant had no difficulty in selecting and obtaining a satisfactory jury and one which on the record he does not claim was biased or unfair.
The exercise of the constitutional right to a change of venue on the ground of community prejudice is a means to secure an unprejudiced and fair jury so that a fair trial may be assured. If such a saturation of prejudice exists in a community from which the jury is drawn so as to make it difficult to select and obtain an impartial jury, then it is better to change the venue of the case than to waste time attempting to find an unprejudiced jury. But a juror’s knowledge of events is to be distinguished from prejudice or predetermined opinion. One may have knowledge without prejudice. The members of a jury *325may be informed without the jury being prejudiced. I think also that community prejudice has little or no effect on a witness. The argument that a witness will testify differently in one county than he will in another is unconvincing. No matter where the witness testifies, he must live in the community from which he comes.
On the facts of this case, I see no reason for a reversal.