Cockrell v. Dobbs

This is a petition by Bruce Cockrell for a writ of mandamus to compel the respondent, as the presiding judge of the Garland circuit court, to grant a hearing upon Cockrell’s motion for a change of venue. The petitioner, charged with murder, asked for a change of venue, asserting that he could not obtain a fair trial in Garland county. In refusing to conduct a hearing upon the motion Judge Dobbs explained that he had concluded that he could not grant any relief even if the motion had merit.

This was Judge Dobbs’s reasoning: The Bill of Bights provides that the venue may be changed to another…