Pride Goeth Before A Motion For Change Of Venue

Grand, eloquent words from Attorney General Eric Holder:

I am confident in the ability of our courts to provide these defendants a fair trial, just as they have for over 200 years. The alleged 9/11 conspirators will stand trial in our justice system before an impartial jury under long-established rules and procedures.

Unfortunately, those words were immediately preceded by these:

After eight years of delay, those allegedly responsible for the attacks of September the 11th will finally face justice. They will be brought to New York to answer for their alleged crimes in a courthouse just blocks from where the twin towers once stood.

Thanks to that expression of hubris, here will be the first words of the first scrap of paper filed by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's attorney within nanoseconds of the case being filed in the Federal District Court in New York:

Rule 21. Transfer for Trial

(a) For Prejudice.

Upon the defendant's motion, the court must transfer the proceeding against that defendant to another district if the court is satisfied that so great a prejudice against the defendant exists in the transferring district that the defendant cannot obtain a fair and impartial trial there.

The Attorney General of the United States has already expressly declared that the close proximity of the festering wound on the landscape left by the defendants is a factor in the selection of the venue, handing the defense the basis for a change of venue motion on a silver platter. This trial will not happen in your back yard, Manhattan. Enjoy the pretrial lawyering, everyone.