Legal Question in Criminal Law in Wyoming

Right to trial in the state of residency

Various lay persons are telling me that there is a superceding federal statute that instructs that a US resident may elect to stand trial in their residency.

The alleged crime (a felony) occured in Wyoming. The suspect had last filed taxes and had a driver's license issued from Utah, but had physically spent most of the last 2 years in Idaho.

I've tried researching the federal statutes, but I can find no reference to this. This case is Extremely high profile, in a small rural town, and involves allegedly firing shots at a police officer.


Asked on 7/26/02, 12:23 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Charles Aspinwall Charles S. Aspinwall, J.D., LLC

Re: Right to trial in the state of residency

Someone has gotten bad information and passed it along to you. A criminal charge must be tried in the city/county/state in which the crime was committed, unless there is a change of venue granted by the court for some reason. There is no federal statute such as you describe.

Read more
Answered on 7/26/02, 2:07 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in Wyoming