Judge David Mouton rejected Craig Smith's motion for a change of venue during a hearing Tuesday in Jasper County Circuit Court. Smith is charged with stalking and possession of child pornography.
The judge's decision came despite a new exhibit entered Tuesday by Smith's attorney, Jonathan Pierce- a copy of a post and comments from the Inside Joplin Facebook page on the Turner Report's post on Smith's motion for a change of venue.
The exhibit showed comments referring to Smith as a "predator" and as someone who gave off "creepy vibes."
Smith's hearing, either for pre-trial motions or for a change of plea is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 12.
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6 comments:
I think that Judge David Mouton's rejection of a change of venue motion by Craig Smith's Attorney - could give them a future Appeal Option and overturn his court's decision.
Why isn't this case being handled as a federal case?
6:32PM, trying to keep it local, that way the Feds don't investigate all of the Stupid / Wrongdoing of things by the CJ School District which should have caught and Stopped Craig Smith - not just letting him retire and change schools gracefully.
Even if he wins an appeal on not getting a change of venue all he would win is a retrial.
Bad for the victims, but he won't win anything even if it's reversed.
This turd will take a plea deal before actually going to trial anyway.
Public defenders don't win many cases like this at trial, and won't string him on with false hopes like an attorney that's getting paid by the defendant might.
Majority of the time a change of venue is denied by the judge, even if the defense's council believes the current location may jeopardize their right to a fair trial. Mr. Craig Smith's charges would not really matter if you changed venues, because of community sentiment, since the majority of people-jurors usually oppose stalking and pedophilia. Some attorneys can use it as another "stall technique", similar to continuances after continuances to prepare or try to broker a deal with the prosecuting attorney's office.
The stalking doesn’t for Federal statutes. The county prosecutor has to turn the case over to Feds in the child porn. That’s the person to ask.
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