Case Name: STATE of Louisiana v. Pete STEPHENSON, Jr.
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1974-02-18
Citations: 291 So. 2d 767
Docket Number: No. 53988
Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Pete STEPHENSON, Jr.
Judges: SUMMERS, J., concurs in result and assigns reasons.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 291
Pages: 767–771

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana v. Pete STEPHENSON, Jr.
No. 53988.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
Feb. 18, 1974.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jim Garrison, Dist. Atty., Louise Korns, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.
Robert F. Fleming, Jr., Orleans Indigent Defender Program, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

Opinion:
DIXON, Justice.
Defendant was tried under a bill of information charging him with attempted murder. He was convicted after a trial by jury and was sentenced to serve eight years at hard labor. Defendant appeals, relying on four perfected bills of exceptions.
Bill of Exceptions No. 1
This bill was reserved when the trial court overruled an objection to the jury venire panel, there being only thirty-six available jurors out of fifty-six on the pet-it jury venire list. The trial judge had excused twelve members of the venire who had served on a jury three days before the instant case was tried.
Defendant contends that such prior service is not a sufficient reason to excuse members of a venire, and that the action infringed upon his right to trial by jury.
C.Cr.P. 418 provides, in pertinent part:
"The jury commission shall draw indiscriminately and by lot as many name slips from the general venire box as a court may direct, not less than seventy-five, for service as petit jurors during the next monthly session of that judge's section of court."
C.Cr.P. 783 provides:
"The court may excuse a member of the petit jury venire at any time prior to the time he is sworn as a juror to try a particular case. The panel shall be selected from the remaining members of the petit jury venire. The court, either on its own motion, or that of the state or a defendant, may order the attachment of an absent and unexcused petit jury venireman."
Official Revision Comment (b) to this article states:
"This article, as well as the source articles, contains a near contradiction. That is, there is some conflict between the defendant's right to have at hand the entire venire, and the court's authority to excuse a large part of the venire in advance. However, the right of the judge to excuse in advance is essential, since many persons chosen for the venire have valid reasons for being excused. The discretion of the judge must be relied upon to avoid abuse, and abuse is reversible error. In State v. Jugger, 217 La. 687, 47 So.2d 46 (1950), the supreme court held that, there being no fraud or collusion, the excusing of over half of the venire (32 out of 50) was not in itself an abuse of discretion."
Defendant fails to show that any special class was systematically excluded, or that he was deprived of a trial before an unbiased jury because of the defect alleged. The defendant was not compelled to accept an obnoxious juror as a result of the ruling. Cf. State v. Jugger, supra. The accused has no right to a trial by any particular jury or juror, but only to a trial by a competent, impartial jury. State v. Preece, 270 So.2d 850 (La.1973); State v. Boutte, 255 La. 605, 232 So.2d 288 (1970).
There is no showing that the trial judge abused his discretion.
This bill is without merit.
Bill of Exceptions No. 2
This bill was reserved during voir dire examination of the jurors. After the State had completed its examination of four veniremen it tendered them to the defendant so that he could conduct his examination of them. The defendant then moved to have the State either accept or challenge "the jurors before the defense examined them. The motion was denied and this bill was taken.
C.Cr.P. 786 provides:
"The court, the state, and the defendant shall have the right to examine prospective jurors. The scope of the examination shall be within the discretion of the court. A prospective juror, before being examined, shall be sworn to answer truthfully questions asked him relative to his qualifications to serve as a juror in the case."
C.Cr.P. 788 provides:
"After the examination provided by Article 786, a prospective juror shall be tendered first to the state, which shall accept or challenge him. If the state ac cepts the prospective juror, he shall be tendered to the defendant, who shall accept or challenge him. When a prospective juror is accepted by the state and the defendant, he shall be sworn immediately as a juror. This article is subject to the provisions of Articles 795 and 796."
These provisions clearly contemplate that there shall be one voir dire examination of a juror participated in by the enumerated parties, and that upon completion of that examination the State is required to accept or challenge first. Cf. State v. Sheppard, 263 La. 379, 268 So.2d 590 (1972). The State is not required to accept or challenge until the completion of the voir dire examination, and such an examination is not completed until the court, the district attorney and defense counsel have completed asking their questions.
Bill of Exceptions No. 2 is without merit.
Bill of Exceptions No. 3
This bill pertains to the denial of a motion for a mistrial. The motion was grounded on the fact that defense counsel had been forced to object to hearsay evidence on several occasions. In each instance defendant's objection was sustained, and the witness admonished. It does not appear that any substantive evidence came in via hearsay.
Although repeated deliberate attempts to elicit hearsay testimony by the prosecution may provide grounds for a mistrial under C.Cr.P. 775, such a situation is not before us now. The trial court sustained the objection of the defendant in each instance complained of. He has no grounds for further complaint.
This bill is without merit.
Bill of Exceptions No. 4
This bill was reserved to the denial of a motion for a new trial grounded on the verdict being contrary to the law and the evidence and prior bills of exceptions.
We have reviewed the prior bills reserved and found them to be without merit. The trial judge stated in his per curiam that the verdict was justified by the law and the evidence. State v. Daspit, 167 La. 53, 118 So. 690 (1928). As such, this allegation presents nothing for our review. State v. Crockett, 262 La. 197, 263 So.2d 6 (1972).
For the reasons assigned, the conviction and sentence are affirmed.
SUMMERS, J., concurs in result and assigns reasons.