When will a change of venue occur in a murder case?

Here, the gravity and nature of the crimes weighed in favor of changing venue because they subjected defendant to the death penalty and had sensational aspects bound to draw public attention. (See Martinez v. Superior Court (1981) 29 Cal.3d 574, 582, 174 Cal.Rptr. 701, 629 P.2d 502.) These aspects were reflected in the initial extensive reports on television and radio and in the locally circulated newspapers. Besides depicting in detail the circumstances of the crimes and of defendant's arrest, they repeatedly emphasized that defendant was an ex-convict who had been released from prison only four days earlier.