Change of Venue
Except as indicated, all indented material is copied directly from the opinion.
Decisions of the Tennessee Supreme Court
Decisions of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals
State v. Ponder, No. M2021-00940-CCA-R3-CD, p. 9 (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Aug. 10, 2022).
A trial court may “order a venue change when a fair trial is unlikely because of undue excitement against the defendant in the county where the offense was committed or for any other cause.” Tenn. R. Crim. P. 21(a). Whether to grant a motion for change of venue is left to the sound discretion of the trial court, and the court’s ruling will be reversed on appeal only upon a clear showing of an abuse of that discretion. State v. Davidson, 121 S.W.3d 600, 611-12 (Tenn. 2003). A change of venue is not warranted simply because a juror has been exposed to pretrial publicity. State v. Mann, 959 S.W.2d 503, 531-32 (Tenn. 1997). For this court to reverse a conviction based on a venue issue, the “defendant must demonstrate that the jurors who actually sat were biased or prejudiced against him.” State v. Evans, 838 S.W.2d 185, 192 (Tenn. 1992).
State v. Braden, No. M2021-00764-CCA-R3-CD, p. 8-9 (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. June 28, 2022).
A trial court may “order a venue change when a fair trial is unlikely because of undue excitement against the defendant in the county where the offense was committed or for any other cause.” Tenn. R. Crim. P. 21(a). Whether to grant a motion for change of venue is left to the sound discretion of the trial court, and the court’s ruling will be reversed on appeal only upon a clear showing of an abuse of that discretion. State v. Davidson, 121 S.W.3d 600, 611-12 (Tenn. 2003). A change of venue is not warranted simply because a juror has been exposed to pretrial publicity. State v. Mann, 959 S.W.2d 503, 531-32 (Tenn. 1997). For this court to reverse a conviction based on a venue issue, the “defendant must demonstrate that the jurors who actually sat were biased or prejudiced against him.” State v. Evans, 838 S.W.2d 185, 192 (Tenn. 1992).
