Opinion
ID No. 0111003002.
Submitted: April 11, 2003.
Decided: April 11, 2003.
Upon Defendant's Motion for Change of Venue DENIED
Robert J. O'Neill, Jr., Esq. and Marie O'Connor Graham, Esq., Deputy Attorneys General, for the State of Delaware.
Sandra W. Dean, Esq. and Sheryl Rush-Milstead, Esq., for the defendant.
RIDGELY, President Judge
ORDER
This 11th day of April, 2003, upon consideration of defendant Gary W. Ploof's motion for change of venue, it appears that:
(1) Defendant, Gary W. Ploof, is charged with Murder in the First Degree, 11 Del. C. § 636, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, 11 Del. C. § 1447A. Defendant has moved for a change of venue to another county based upon certain pretrial publicity.
(2) A decision regarding change of venue rests in the sound discretion of the trial judge. Routine pretrial publicity of a criminal case will not justify the granting of a motion for change of venue, but rather, venue will be changed only upon a showing of reasonable probability of prejudice. To make such a showing, a defendant must present evidence of highly inflammatory or sensationalized pre-trial publicity sufficient for the court to presume prejudice if it finds the publicity to be inherently prejudicial. Short of such a showing, defendant must demonstrate actual prejudice through voir dire.
Riley v. State, 496 A.2d 997 (Del. 1985); Parson v. State, Del. Supr., 222 A.2d 326, cert. denied, 386 U.S. 935 (1966).
Riley v. State, supra.
McBride v. State, 477 A.2d 174, 185 (Del. 1985).
Riley v. State, supra at 1014-1015.
(3) Defendant has referred the Court to various newspaper articles in the Delaware State News, The News Journal, and The Dover Post. The accounts are largely informational in scope, and they are not sufficient for this Court to presume prejudice in the array to be summoned for jury service. I find no present basis to change the venue to another county.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that Defendant's Motion for Change of Venue is DENIED without prejudice to a renewal of the motion upon a demonstration of actual prejudice at jury selection.