Change of venue
Catching up on some light reading from the last couple of months of S.C. opinions: In State v. Woods, the defendant was charged with first degree burglary, first degree criminal sexual conduct (rape) and murder of a school teacher. When the case came to trial, the prosecutor agreed that pre-trial publicity and the fact that the victim was well known in the community would prevent a fair trial, and consented to a change of venue - they drew a jury from Marion County instead of Clarendon County, and transported them to Manning, S.C. for the trial, which resulted in a hung jury.
When the case was retried, the prosecutor decided a change of venue was no longer necessary, the trial judge denied the defense's motion for change of venue, and the defendant was convicted on all counts and sentenced to death.
The general rule is that where a case results in a mistrial the slate is wiped clean and the first trial is a nullity. The Court did not address the question of how there was grounds for a change of venue the first time and not the second - if the first trial is a "nullity," that doesn't change the composition of the potential jury pool in a small town in rural South Carolina. But, the bottom line is that the prosecutor consented the first time. There is no way to determine whether the change of venue would have been granted otherwise, and it is extremely rare for a trial judge to grant one.
