Title: New Jersey v. Andujar

State: new-jersey

Issuer: New Jersey Supreme Court

Document:

SYLLABUS

This syllabus is not part of the Court’s opinion. It has been prepared by the Office of the
Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the
Court. In the interest of brevity, portions of an opinion may not have been summarized.

                       State v. Edwin Andujar (A-6-20) (084167)

Argued March 30, 2021 -- Decided July 13, 2021

RABNER, C.J., writing for a unanimous Court.

       In this appeal, the Court considers defendant Edwin Andujar’s argument that he
was denied the right to a fair trial because racial discrimination infected the jury selection
process. In doing so, the Court addresses for the first time when a criminal history check
can be run on a prospective juror.

       The appeal centers on the selection process for F.G., a Black male from Newark.
F.G. was questioned at sidebar for about a half hour. Throughout the questioning, F.G.
told the court he believed he could be a fair and impartial juror.

       F.G. volunteered that he had answers to multiple voir dire questions, including
having two cousins in law enforcement and knowing “[a] host of people” who had been
accused of crimes -- five or six close friends in all. In providing details about those
accusations, F.G. used terms like “CDS” and “trigger lock.” F.G. also told the court
about three crime victims he knew. He said that two cousins had been murdered, and a
friend had been robbed at gunpoint. F.G. was asked if anything he had said would have
an impact on him as a juror. F.G. suggested that he, like every other juror, has a unique
background and perspective, which is why defendants are judged by a group. After
additional questions, F.G. was asked whether the criminal justice system was fair and
effective; F.G. responded, “I believe so because you are judged by your peers.”

       The State challenged F.G. for cause and asked that he be removed. The prosecutor
noted that F.G. “has an awful lot of background” and “uses all of the lingo about, you
know, the criminal justice system.” A second prosecutor voiced concern that F.G.’s
“close friends hustle, engaged in criminal activity” because “[t]hat draws into question
whether [F.G.] respects the criminal justice system” and his role as a juror.

       Defense counsel stated that “it is not a hidden fact that living in certain areas you
are going to have more people who are accused of crimes, more people who are victims
of crime,” and that “to hold it against [F.G.] that these things have happened . . . to people
that he knows . . . would mean that a lot of people from Newark would not be able to
serve.”

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       The trial court denied the State’s motion, explaining that “[e]verything [F.G.] said
and the way he said it leaves no doubt in my mind that he . . . does not have any bias
towards the State nor the defense . . . . I think he would make a fair and impartial juror.”

       After the court’s ruling, the prosecution ran a criminal history check on F.G. The
next day, the court explained the prosecutor “came to see me yesterday” and revealed that
there were “warrants out for F.G.” and that “[t]hey were going to lock him up.” Defense
counsel noted there was “one warrant out of Newark Municipal Court.” Afterward, the
State renewed its application to remove F.G. for cause. When the court asked for the
defense’s position, counsel responded, “I don’t oppose[] the State’s application.”

        Defense counsel expressed concern about tainting the jury and added, “I think
coming to court for jury service no one expects they are going to be looked up to see if
they have warrants.” The prosecutor replied that “the State is not in the habit of . . .
looking at a random juror’s” criminal history, and then reiterated concerns the State had
voiced the day before to explain why it ran a background check. The prosecutor denied
that racial bias played a role in the State’s application to remove F.G. for cause. Defense
counsel then placed on the record a “concern that the State doesn’t typically check people
out, but in this case, they did single someone out to check for warrants.”

        Defense counsel asked the court to award defendant one additional peremptory
challenge. Counsel argued that the State had an unfair advantage in that it could access
databases to run a criminal history check, but defendant could not; counsel also noted that
the State’s “target[ing]” of F.G. “implicates due process concerns . . . regarding [F.G.’s]
rights to sit on a jury.” The court denied the request. The jury convicted defendant.

      The Appellate Division reversed and remanded for a new trial.  462 N.J. Super. 537,
563 (App. Div. 2020). The Court granted certification.  244 N.J. 170 (2020).

HELD:           *Courts, not the parties, oversee the jury selection process. On occasion, it
may be appropriate to conduct a criminal history check to confirm whether a prospective
juror is eligible to serve and to ensure a fair trial. That decision, though, cannot be made
unilaterally by the prosecution. Going forward, any party seeking to run a criminal
history check on a prospective juror -- through a government database available only to
one side -- must present a reasonable, individualized, good-faith basis for the request and
obtain permission from the trial judge. The results of the check must be shared with both
parties and the court, and the juror should be given an opportunity to respond to any
legitimate concerns raised.

               *That standard was not met here. Nor is there anything in the record that
justified the State’s decision to selectively focus on F.G. and investigate only his criminal
record. Based on all of the circumstances, the Court infers that F.G.’s removal from the
jury panel may have stemmed from implicit or unconscious bias on the part of the State,

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which can violate a defendant’s right to a fair trial in the same way that purposeful
discrimination can. Defense counsel raised multiple serious concerns but should have
leveled a more precise objection. Nonetheless, the Court cannot ignore the evidence of
implicit bias that appears in the extensive record. Under the circumstances, defendant’s
right to be tried by an impartial jury, selected free from discrimination, was violated. The
Court therefore reverses his conviction and remands for a new trial.

               *New Jersey today allows for the highest number of peremptory challenges
in the nation -- more than double the national average -- based on a statute enacted in the
late 1800s. Yet, as the United States Supreme Court acknowledged decades ago,
peremptory challenges can invite discrimination. See Batson v. Kentucky,