Commonwealth v. Swanson

Opinion by

Mr. Chief Justice Bell,

Defendant, charged with the crime of murder, presented to the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Cambria County a petition for a change of venue, alleging that certain prearrest and pretrial publicity precluded defendant-appellant from receiving a fair trial in Cambria County. Pa. B. Crim. P. 313 provides that venue may be changed “. . . when it is determined after hearing that a fair and impartial trial cannot be had in the county in which the complaint was filed.” After defendant’s petition was presented and argued by defendant’s personally retained counsel, the…