The court of appeals affirmed a district court judgment denying a petition for writ of habeas corpus. The court held that significant media coverage of a multiple murder was insufficient to justify a presumption of prejudice warranting a change of venue where the publicity all occurred more than two years prior to trial.
Royal Hayes was convicted and sentenced to death by a California state court for the 1981 murders of two victims. After his state court appeals were denied, Hayes petitioned for federal habeas relief. Among other things, Hayes asserted that the trial court’s denial of his motion for change of venue based on alleged adverse pretrial publicity violated his due process rights. The district court denied the petition.
