OAKLAND — Although changing venues for criminal trials has become a rarity in the state, a decision by an Alameda County judge last week to move the murder case against a former BART police officer was not a surprise, criminal law professors and attorneys in the field said Monday.

Professors and attorneys said community outrage against the Jan. 1. killing almost assured the trial would be moved.

"If there is ever a case you would expect a change of venue, it would be a case like this," said David Sklansky, a professor at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law. "I don't think it was a shock."

Johannes Mehserle is accused of murder in the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Hayward resident. In granting the defense's request for a venue change, Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson said the case met all but one of six factors that he had to consider.

Jacobson appeared to be most concerned with the repeated protests that have occurred outside Alameda County's Rene C. Davidson Courthouse and how those protests would affect a jury that will be asked to decide a "close" case.

In making its final decision, a jury in the Mehserle case will have to decide the 27-year-old former officer's state of mind at the time of the shooting: Did he purposely shoot and kill Grant or was it an accident as the defense has argued?

That decision, Jacobson said in his ruling, will be tough, and the potential that an Alameda

Professors and legal experts agreed.

"Once you consider the depth of anger and outrage around the case ... it was almost inevitable that it would be moved," said Jim Hammer, a former San Francisco deputy district attorney. "You just have the real risk here of something tainting the jury, of someone suddenly being pressured to decide a certain way."

While most agreed that media attention surrounding the case in Alameda County will follow it to whatever county plays host to the trial, a jury selected in another county will not be concerned about the impacts of its final decision.

"Is there a county in California that did not have the extensive media coverage? It's hard to imagine that anyone in the state of California hasn't seen the videos," said Kara Dansky, executive director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center. "But it still remains that whatever community receives this case, the people in that community will not be concerned about the threat of violence in the wake of their verdict."

In addition, some experts said, moving the case to another location blocks defense attempts to overturn a verdict on appeal.

"This ensures that if there is a conviction, it is going to stand," Hammer said. "It takes away a chance for appeal."

Where the case finally is located will be the next major battle between defense attorneys and prosecutors, the experts and professors said.

Jacobson notified the state's Administrative Office of the Courts on Friday that a change of venue motion was granted, starting a two-week-long clock for that office to come up with recommended locations.

Those recommendations will be based on the host court's agreeing to take the trial and its ability to do so. The host court must be able to handle the media attention, security provisions and have room in its courthouse for a high-profile trial.

The demographics of the host county probably will be considered, although court rules do not make it a mandate.

"It doesn't have to mirror the district it is coming from, but certainly if there are major differences that will be taken into account," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School who has written about change of venue in California. "I don't see it being transferred to Yolo County. I would say any major metropolitan area would be appropriate."

Jacobson will make the final decision where to locate the trial, and Hammer said demographics will play a major role in his decision.

"The victim has a right to a fair trial as well. The defense should not be able to game this by moving it to a suburban white county," Hammer said. "Finding a similar demographic will help the public be secure that it will be a fair trial."