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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
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    Default Change of Venue After Signing Ticket

    My question involves traffic court in the State of: California in Alameda County (NorCal)

    Hi,

    I have a simple question, but have not been able to find an answer through my internet research.

    I live in Oakland. While driving to LA one night, I was pulled over and received a speeding ticket. The court that was written on the ticket is the Fremont Traffic Court.

    I would like to go to court, but at the time, I did not know about the right to ask for a Change of Venue. After doing a bit of research, I found out that the county seat is in Oakland! It is much more convenient for me to have my day in court at the Oakland courthouse than to drive down to Fremont.

    My question: Can I still request a change of venue after I had signed the ticket? If so, how would I go about doing so?

    Thank you in advance.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    LA LA Land
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    9,170

    Default Re: Change of Venue After Signing Ticket

    Quote Quoting Oaklander
    View Post
    I did not know about the right to ask for a Change of Venue.
    My question: Can I still request a change of venue after I had signed the ticket? If so, how would I go about doing so?
    Actually, the "having a change of venue" is not explicitly enumerated as being one of your constitutional rights... In criminal prosecutions, and in cases where you will be tried by a jury, you have the right to being tried by an impartial jury of your pears. And there are times when a jury in the county where the offense happened is not likely to continue to be impartial depending on the offense, media coverage ... etc. You are then guaranteed that upon request, your case will be transferred to a county where a more impartial jury might be found. In a traffic infraction case, and while the code section providing the basis for that option uses the same "change of venue" terminology, it is an alltogether different animal in that (1) being accused of committing a traffic infraction does not grant you the right to a jury trial, (2) the transfer, in a traffic infraction case, if it is allowed, must remain in the same county where the offense was committed, and (3) the court is not under any obligation to grant your request if it seems unreasonable of unnecessary. So you can request a change of venue if you so desire, but there is no statutory requirement to grant your request.

    And yes, I realize that CVC 40502 states "upon the demand of the person...", that is not the act that is mandated; instead, the act that is mandated is in the first sentence in that code section, that being "The place specified in the notice to appear shall be any of the following".

    Therefore, and as long as one of the several locations is where the appearance happens, then all is good in the world!

    Quote Quoting Oaklander
    View Post
    My question: Can I still request a change of venue after I had signed the ticket?
    The court is not under any obligation to make a trial more convenient for the defendant all at the cost of it becoming more inconvenient for the prosecution's witness. Whether you'd asked for it before or after signing the citation, a change of venue request in traffic court is almost always invariably rejected, simply because the court knows that in this day and age, most such requests and with everybody having a car under their behind, it has very little to do with "convenience" and instead, it is simply an attempt to increase one's chances of the citing officer not showing up to testify.

    But you're free to try your luck with one!

    Quote Quoting Oaklander
    View Post
    If so, how would I go about doing so?
    Simple... You would file a motion for a change of venue with the court serve it on the prosecuting attorney for the city/county (depending on who handles criminal prosecutions there) and also serve one on the officer to notify him of your request.

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