... though it wasn't really a change of venue and the prosecution not only acquiesced, but the move was initiated BY the prosecutors.

By way of technical explanation, a change of venue is when a case is moved from one jurisdiction to another (let's say, from Los Angeles County to Orange County). That didn't happen here.

What did happen here is that LA is so big that it has a variety of branch courts, all of which are in the same jurisdiction (the county of LA). The DA can choose to file charges either in the courthouse for the area in which the crime occurred or in the Central LA criminal court. Both have jurisdiction over the crime. That is what happened here. The DA made a tactical decision to file "downtown", as they say. This decision is one of the blunders mentioned by both Bugliosi and Spence in their criticisms of the OJ prosecution. There can be no doubt that it WAS a significant factor (though I also have no doubt that if Bugliosi had been prosecuting, he would have obtained a conviction, even downtown).

----- jim o\-S