If you are a defendant in a criminal example, the law guarantees you the right to a fair trial. If the location where your trial is to be held could possibly jeopardize this right, your attorney may file a Motion for Change of Venue. If granted, the case will be tried in a different location where you are more likely to receive off-white treatment.

Motion for Change of Venue

Understanding the Motion for Change of Venue

When a Motion for Change of Venue is filed in a criminal case, it means either the prosecution or the defense force is asking the judge to move the upcoming trial to a different place. This isn't equally simple a process as information technology seems. There is the question of jurisdiction, for example—a courtroom tin can only hear for which it has the legal potency to render a decision—and the rules for changing venues are unlike from place to place.

Sometimes changing a venue presents no conflict with the court's jurisdiction; for example, if a crime spans 2 jurisdictions, the trial could be held in either, and with land crimes, a trial might be moved from i county to another inside the state without violating jurisdiction.

There are other times when the procedure is more complex, and the party requesting the change volition take to demonstrate valid concerns about the fairness of the trial before the judge approves it. All of this is to say that it's of import to have an experienced defense attorney in your corner who understands the nuances of the law, and who can navigate these sometimes-tricky waters.

REASONS TO REQUEST A CHANGE OF VENUE

There are several mayhap valid reasons why a approximate might grant a Motility for Change of Venue. For example:

  1. Excessive pre-trial publicity. If details about your case take been widely publicized by the media, your attorney may finer contend that information technology would be difficult to find unbiased jurors inside your local surface area to afford you a fair trial.
  2. Pre-biased jury pool. Publicity yet, if the jury pool is likely to be biased against you in whatever manner (for example, if your case is race-related in a racially charged customs, or if it is a death penalty case in a community that favors the expiry penalization), your attorney may move to change the venue to improve the jury pool in your favor.
  3. Electric current venue violates procedure. If for whatsoever reason, clerical or otherwise, the case is being handled by the wrong court or a courtroom with no jurisdiction, the venue may be inverse to a more suitable court in a different locale.
  4. Other factors in the "interest of justice." This encompasses a wide range of other possible reasons to move the trial, ranging from availability of witnesses to saving expenses, or fifty-fifty on the grounds that the presiding gauge may harbor a prejudice confronting the defendant.

Our Experience with Motions for Modify of Venue

While changing a venue can be a complicated matter, it is often necessary for the purpose of protecting the rights of the defendant in a criminal trial. The Federal Criminal Constabulary Heart has plenty of experience with filing effective Motions for Change of Venue, and our attorneys will work aggressively on your behalf to ensure that your trial is held in a location that affords you lot the least possible amount of bias.