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2015 SESSION
15103490DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 19.2-244 and 19.2-247 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 19.2-244. Venue in general.
A. Except as otherwise provided by law, the prosecution of a criminal case shall be had in the county or city in which the offense was committed. Except as to motions for a change of venue, all other questions of venue must be raised before verdict in cases tried by a jury and before the finding of guilty in cases tried by the court without a jury.
B. If an offense has been committed within the Commonwealth and it cannot readily be determined within which county or city the offense was committed, venue for the prosecution of the offense may be had in the county or city (i) in which the defendant resides; (ii) if the defendant is not a resident of the Commonwealth, in which the defendant is apprehended; or (iii) if the defendant is not a resident of the Commonwealth and is not apprehended in the Commonwealth, to which the defendant is extradited.
§ 19.2-247. Venue in certain homicide cases.
Where evidence exists that a homicide has been committed
either within or without this the Commonwealth, under
circumstances which that
make it unknown where such crime was committed, the
offense homicide and any
related offenses shall be amenable to prosecution in the
courts of the county or city where the body or
any part thereof of the victim may be found or, if the
victim was removed from the Commonwealth for medical treatment prior to death
and died outside the Commonwealth, in the courts of the county or city from
which the victim was removed for medical treatment prior to death, as if the
offense has been committed in such county or city. In a prosecution for capital
murder pursuant to subdivision 8 of § 18.2-31, the offense may be prosecuted in
any jurisdiction in the Commonwealth in which any one of the killings may be
prosecuted.