Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

A move from one county to another is called a change of venue. Such changes are only authorized when the defendant cannot reasonably expect a fair trial in the county where the charges were filed.

Changes of venue are rare. For the most part, they occur in cases that have been heavily publicized in the local media, thus tainting the jury pool. They can also happen where the victim was a judge, a prosecutor, or someone else connected with the criminal justice system (or perhaps the immediate family member of such a person).

The way to request such a move is to bring a motion for a change of venue. The motion must explain why the defendant could not get a fair trial in the original county, as well as why a fair trial would be possible in some other county. (If the county where you want to be tried is likely to be just as unfair, there is no point moving the case.)

No. Not unless you can show jury pool prejudice, such as in a high profile case where jurors may have been contaminated by adverse publicity of some heinous crime.