Also known as: vicinages · vicinity
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The geographical district from which jurors must be selected for a criminal trial. The concept ensures that jurors are drawn from the area where the alleged crime occurred so that they reflect local knowledge and values.
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Vaughn Valentine was seized outside his apartment in downtown Metro City and driven forty miles to a remote cabin. Prosecutors charged kidnapping. The jury pool was drawn from the original downtown district rather than the cabin's rural county to satisfy the vicinage requirement.
Vera Vu was served with process while visiting the forum state for a conference. The court upheld personal jurisdiction over her based on physical presence. Vera argued that the suit should have been brought in her home state's vicinage where the underlying events occurred.
Veronica Varela faced a misdemeanor battery charge in state court. She demanded a jury drawn from the district where the altercation occurred. The trial judge instead summoned jurors from the entire county, prompting a Sixth Amendment challenge.
Vincent Valdez was tried for felony theft before a six-person jury selected from the judicial circuit that included the crime scene. Defense counsel objected that the smaller panel failed to represent the vicinage adequately under the Sixth Amendment.
Viola Volkov sued Parklane Hosiery after the SEC obtained an injunction in an earlier proceeding. The court considered whether findings from the prior federal action could bind the later private suit when the first jury had been drawn from a different vicinage.
Vivian Vaughn was convicted after the state introduced a recorded statement from an unavailable witness. On appeal she argued that the statement should have been tested before a jury drawn from the vicinage where the alleged assault took place.
Venue identifies the court where the case will be tried. Vicinage identifies the geographic area from which the jurors themselves must be selected. The two concepts often overlap but serve distinct functions.
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The Sixth Amendment requires that the jury be drawn from a district that includes the place where the crime was committed. It does not demand jurors from the precise block or immediate vicinity.
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Venue objections are subject to waiver or forfeiture if not timely raised. Vicinage limitations tied to the Sixth Amendment are treated as fundamental and generally may not be waived in the same manner.
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…writing under the pseudonym Federal Farmer criticized the use of "written evidence" while objecting to the omission of a vicinage right: "Nothing can be more essential than the cross examining [of] witnesses, and generally before the triers of the facts in question. . . . [W]ritten evidence . . . [is] almost useless;…