Casey Anthony, the Orlando woman charged with capital murder in the death of her young daughter last summer, plans to ask a judge for a change of venue. If the request is granted, the trial will be held outside of Orlando with jurors from another county.

Anthony’s criminal defense attorney said he will file a change of venue motion because of the pretrial publicity the case has generated. One of the attorneys on Anthony’s defense team told a morning talk show that constant media coverage makes it impossible for Anthony to get a fair trial in the Orlando area.

“Every single day since I’ve been in this case, which is December 11 there’s been a story. Even when there’s a non-story there’s been a story,” said Linda Baden.

Her trial is set for October. Prosecutors say they will ask for the death penalty.

Florida rules of criminal procedure allow the prosecution or the defendant to request a change of venue on the grounds that a fair and impartial trial cannot be had in the county where the case is pending. If the change of venue is granted, the trial judge will transfer the case to another county convenient to the parties.

The ruling in this case will be an interesting one because the media coverage, while certainly intense in the Orlando area, has been far-reaching on the national cable news networks. The jury selection process will be arduous in almost any county in Florida.

Felonies, Violent Crimes

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 3:09 am and is filed under Florida Criminal Law News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.