Alleged Accessory Denied Change of Venue in Knoxville Murder Trial

A Knoxville, Tennessee attorney, who had described his client’s case as “one of the most heavily publicized & misreported cases in recent local East Tennessee history,” was denied a change of venue last Saturday. ( Here )

Eric Boyd’s attorney referred to the Internet as “the largest unregulated source of information” – spreading lies and helping create an urban legend surrounding the details of the final state of the victims’ bodies—meant to outrage and taint any jury pool” last month, stating that “literally thousands and thousands of internet blogs & news accounts have been published about the case, both partially factual and fictional.”

Part of his inference, though, is that his client isn’t directly involved in the case drawing all of the attention, but will be colored because of it. (Motion)

An article on Law.com, yesterday, said George Washington University Law School professor Stephen Saltzburg, who chairs the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section, called the case the first time he’d heard of blogs being cited in a change of venue motion, and doubted that postings added much volume to the pervasive television & newspaper coverage surrounding sensational criminal cases. “They’re just another form of communication,” he said. “Courts have examined prospective jurors as to what they have read or heard about a case. Now the inquiry will be not only about newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, but Internet communications and e-mail.

The district court in fact found the motion premature, and said it would be preferential to “properly question potential jurors to determine the extent of the ‘veniremen’s exposure to the publicity and the effect it has had on them.”