Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Kentucky

Re: Change of venue

The change of venue procedure has been around a long time but it has become more important with the advent of mass media. The problem is that saturation reporting of a case may compromise the right of a party to a fair trial. In a crimnal case, for instance, passions may run quite high if the victim in well-regarded or vulnerable. In such cases, the trial is moved to a place where coverage has been non-existent or limited, or passions less aroused, so that jurors with preconceived ideas about the case are not likely to be judging it. However, a case may be so notorious that moving it would not help. This is what happened in the Manson case. His crimes were committed in LA and he was tried there.

Re: Change of venue

Change of venue has existed as a legal concept for a long time. Overwhelming publicity has caused the concept to be used often in high profile cases.

The landmark case is Sheppard vs. Maxwell, the Sam Sheppard case, ["The Fugitive"] in which Lee Bailey got a reversal on the basis of prejudicial pretrial publicity by Louie Selzer and the Cleveland Press.

The accused is entitled to a trial in the courtroom, not in the newspaper.