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Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Ind. Law - " Oprah helps capture Indiana fugitive" leads to request to change venue

Referring back to this Oct. 12, 2005 ILB entry about how Oprah Winfrey helped catch a Posey County fugitive by doing a "10 most wanted" on her show, the Indianapolis Star story cited includes this quote:

When and where that will be done is still to be determined. Local prosecutors say Davis could ask for, and receive, a change of venue because of the extensive pretrial publicity about his case.

Evansville attorney Russ Woodson, who represented Davis in 2002 on a child molesting charge that was later dropped, wondered if Davis would be able to get a trial with a fair and impartial jury.

Sure enough, the Evansville Courier& Press today has a story headlined "New venue sought in Davis trial." Some quotes:
Oprah Winfrey's focus on a fugitive Evansville sex offender and ensuing news coverage about his arrest make it impossible for William C. Davis to get an impartial jury in Vanderburgh County, his attorney argues.

So Davis' defense team is asking for a change of venue, to move his trial on child molestation charges to some distant Indiana county where coverage of Davis' case has not been as intense and potential jurors aren't as familiar with it.

Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stan Levco opposes moving Davis' trial now.

"I wouldn't say that there won't be a lot of publicity about the case," Levco said. "But even if a person has watched that (television) program, that doesn't mean they can't be a fair juror."

[Update] The Star has posted this AP story on its website.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 16, 2005 06:35 AM
Posted to Indiana Law