united-states trial sixth-amendment
US criminal case - change of venue
<p>In the US, if a defendant in a criminal trial (in state court) wants to change the venue of the trial, is it possible to have it changed to another state?</p>

<p><strong>No</strong></p>
<p>There is some room for change of venue from, say, one county to another, or one municipality to another, <em>within the same state</em>. In certain circumstances this may even be constitutionally required. See <em>Sheppard v. Maxwell</em>, 384 U.S. 333, 363 (U.S. 1966) (&quot;where there is a reasonable likelihood that prejudicial news prior to trial will prevent a fair trial, the judge should continue the case until the threat abates, or transfer it to another county not so permeated with publicity&quot;). But, there's no mechanism to move a state criminal trial to another state.</p>
<p>A cousin of the scenario you're talking about is where D has committed crimes in multiple states. In such a situation the prosecutors from different states (and also the federal system) may meet and co-ordinate their strategies, and part of that will be deciding who charges what and who goes first. An example of this is the DC sniper case, which I remember pretty vividly because I grew up in the area. The Maryland and Virginia prosecutors reached an agreement to try them in Virginia first, and second in Maryland.</p>
