Newcomer v. Commonwealth

William P. Newcomer was indicted in the Circuit Court of the City of Buena Vista for the murder of Vernon Staton. The defendant was tried twice in Buena Vista, and both trials resulted in hung juries. Following the second trial a motion by the Commonwealth for change of venue was granted. Thereafter defendant was tried by a jury in the Circuit Court of Rockbridge County, convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to confinement in the state penitentiary for a period of seven years.

Newcomer’s assignments of error allege that a change of venue was improperly ordered; that the Commonwealth…