Pretrial Media Coverage: Henley v. State - A Case On Point

Yesterday, we addressed the situation of highly inflammatory cases that suffer pretrial publicity due to the nature of the crime or the celebrity of the person that is charged with the crime. In Henley v. State, the defendant was charged with six mass, homosexual rape and torture murders. There was a substantial media coverage as a result of the dynamic facts of the case.

In this case, the defendant was indicted in Harris County and the case was transferred to Bexar County. Interestingly, the defendant filed another motion to change of venue in Bexar County. The judge withheld ruling on the motion to change venue until after jury selection. There were nine affidavits that stated the defendant could not get a fair trial in Bexar County; however, after jury selection the trial court overruled the motion. Despite a large amount of evidence that demonstrated the defendant would not get a fair trial, the judge used jury selection to make a ruling. At the end of jury selection, the trial court overruled the motion and denied the change of venue.

If you have been charged with a internet crime or white collar crime, contact a Plano criminal defense lawyer today.