By T Chris

Mark Geragos announced that he will be filing 8,000 documents in support of a request to change the venue of Scott Peterson's murder trial. Geragos contends that media coverage of the case (as reflected in the documents) will impair Peterson's ability to obtain a fair trial in his hometown of Modesto.

Given the nationwide publicity Peterson's case has attracted, it will be difficult to find a pool of jurors anywhere that hasn't been tainted by the media coverage, despite Geragos' deft attempts to encourage coverage that favors Peterson. Nonetheless, residents of the Modesto area are likely to be so attuned to the case that finding local jurors capable of disregarding everything they've seen and heard before the trial would be an impossible task.

Geragos should be able to make a persuasive case that fairness requires a change of venue.