Excelsior College Criminal Justice Questions

Part 1

In court proceedings, both prosecutors and defense attorneys have the right to file a motion for a change of venue. There are numerous reasons why a change of venue would be requested but ultimately it all comes down to the potential for a fair trial given the pool of potential jurors in the current location of the trial.

The video below is a news story concerning a motion for a change of venue in a murder trial in Texas. In this case, the change of venue was granted by the judge, although that outcome is rare. If you would like to read more about the outcome of this case, please read the following article: Accused Santa Fe shooter declared incompetent to stand trial (Links to an external site.).

ASSIGNMENT

This assignment focuses on the Slager case introduced in M1.1. Please see case attached. 

There are two parts to the assignment that will be written in a paper. First, you will determine if a motion for a change of venue should be filed by either the prosecution or the defense. Then, you will put yourself in the role of the judge and decide if the motion should be granted.

In the quick links below you will find an example motion for a change of venue that you can use for reference although you are not expected to actually write the motion, only to explain what would be included in it.

Part A

Decide if a motion for change of venue should be filed. The motion could come from the prosecution or the defense. It is possible that you do not think either side should file such a motion. If that is the case, justify your decision.

If you decide that either side should file the motion, explain why you came to that conclusion and what specific information should be included in the motion. Your justification may also include examples of similar trials where a motion for a change of venue was granted.

It is important to understand that often motions for a change of venue are filed because one side is hopeful that if it is granted they will be in a better position than they would otherwise, even if they do not think that the motion will be granted.

Part B

Now think about the case from the judge’s perspective. You are no longer considering if it is best for your side to move the case but whether there are legitimate legal reasons to do so. What constitutional standards must be met to grant the change of venue? Support your decision by citing specific laws and cases.

Limit your paper to 3-5 total pages. Use the APA citation style for references.

Part 2 – Submit a word document I will create the journal.

For this ongoing assignment, you must create an online journal that will be shared with your instructor. You can choose to use whatever online journal tool you are comfortable with, including potentially using Google Docs. The only requirement for the tool used is that you can share it with your instructor and add entries as necessary.

Note: You may choose to make one entry for the entire module or you could add new entries as you complete assignments or have significant milestones within a module. The point is for your instructor to be able to monitor your progress and for you to be able to refer back to the journal in the future to see how you have personally evolved.

Be creative with the narrative in your journal while relating the virtual experiences through the assignments to hypothetical real-life experiences.

For each module, you should cover both parts listed below.

Part 1 – Prompts related to the content of this module

• How would you rate your knowledge of the Fourth Amendment prior to beginning this course?
• Do you feel that the Fourth Amendment has the potential to impose an unnecessary burden on officers when they are attempting to conduct an investigation?

Part 2 – General thoughts about the module

Below are some examples of the types of things you should include in your journal:

• How did the assignments in the module benefit you?
• Was there anything you struggled with in the module?
• What did you learn in this module? (A brief summary would be appropriate)
• Are there any course materials from this module (readings, videos, etc.) that you plan to retain for future reference?