IV. Specific Venue Issues

• Library: The Rights of the Accused under the Sixth Amendment (ABA) (2016 Ed.)

IV. Specific Venue IssuesA. Multiple Jurisdiction Crimes

Criminal conspiracies that allegedly occur over a broad range of counties, states, or districts can be prosecuted in any place in which an act in furtherance of the crime occurred.¹⁴⁰ "Congress has provided by statute for offenses 'begun in one district and completed in another;' such offenses may be 'prosecuted in any district in which [the] offense was begun, continued, or completed.'"¹⁴¹ If a crime constitutes a single continuous act committed in a series of places, and the provision in the law making such an offense triable in any of those places confers jurisdiction on the court therein, then that law does not violate the Sixth Amendment.¹⁴² An example of this situation is the crime of transporting an illegal substance across state and district lines. That case could be prosecuted in any one of several different places. The legal rationale behind having venue in multiple districts is that transportation is an essential part of the offense and occurs equally over any and all of the traveled routes.¹⁴³

Venue is always proper in the district in which the scheme of the crime was devised.¹⁴⁴ An offender who travels through various districts may be tried in any of the districts in which it can be proved that actions in furtherance of the scheme occurred.¹⁴⁵ Similarly, in a conspiracy case, venue is proper in any district in which the agreement was made or any act occurred in furtherance of the conspiracy.¹⁴⁶ The act need not be substantial to support a finding of proper venue; any act will do.¹⁴⁷ In United States v. Rommy, the court stated that a phone call involving a member of the conspiracy made to or from the judicial district could be an act sufficient to support venue.¹⁴⁸ Thus, venue could be proper in one district even though most of the activity in furtherance of the conspiracy occurred in a different district.¹⁴⁹ Furthermore, the particular act giving rise to venue can be committed by the defendant or any member of the conspiracy.¹⁵⁰ Using the actions of coconspirators to find venue has led some courts to uphold venue in a district that the defendant has never even entered.¹⁵¹ In many cases, these rules assume that a fair and impartial trial may be held in numerous districts, enabling the prosecution to find a district that is sufficiently convenient.

B. Crimes Not Committed in a District

Crimes allegedly committed outside the United States are not in any state or district's jurisdiction. Venue for such crimes is proper in the place in which the defendant is arrested or the district in which he is "first brought."¹⁵² An offender who committed crimes outside of the jurisdiction of any district and was captured outside the United States may be tried in the district in which he enters the country.¹⁵³ Venue may also be proper in other districts in which parts of the crime were allegedly committed or in the district of the last known residence of the offender.¹⁵⁴ For example, proper venue for the trial of a conspirator who is apprehended outside of the United States may be in the district in which he enters the country, as well as any district in which any part of the crime was committed.¹⁵⁵

C. Multiple Defendant Crimes

When a crime was allegedly committed by multiple defendants tried together, the case may be tried in any district in which any defendant committed any act in furtherance of the scheme.¹⁵⁶ In prosecutions of multiple defendants, the district judge is less likely to transfer the case to accommodate one of the defendants because of the probability that another defendant will allege that the chosen venue is inconvenient or that the particular cultural makeup of the district does not provide for a fair and impartial jury.¹⁵⁷

D. Failure to Act Crimes

Where the crime that is charged is the failure to do a required act, such as failure to register as a sex offender;¹⁵⁸ misprision of a felony;¹⁵⁹ and failure to report child abuse,¹⁶⁰ the place fixed for its performance is the legal place of the alleged crime.¹⁶¹ Where various duties are imposed, some to be performed at a distant place and others at home, the government may prosecute in either location, as either would be proper venue for trial.¹⁶²

E. Accessories

Defendants who aided and abetted an alleged crime can be tried in the places or districts in which the crime was aided, as well as the place or district in which the crime occurred.¹⁶³

F. Crimes Furthered through Electronics

A novel issue created by the advent of the Internet is that it is increasingly difficult to ascertain the exact location where a crime was committed because of the wide range of venues to which illegal content can be easily transferred.¹⁶⁴ This ambiguity causes serious constitutional and practical problems.¹⁶⁵ Examples of such crimes include wire fraud;¹⁶⁶ advertisement of child pornography;¹⁶⁷ and electronic transmission of false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission.¹⁶⁸

Internet crimes, as with other offenses, can be tried in any district in which the crime was begun, continued, or completed.¹⁶⁹ This broad application means that in cases of conspiracy or the distribution of child pornography, any district that receives the illegal communication constitutes a proper venue to try the crime.¹⁷⁰ Consequently, defendants who use the Internet or other forms of electronic communication may be tried in districts they have never physically entered.

G. Crimes Furthered through the United...