Opinion ID: 1926022
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Court's Failure to Strike, Sua Sponte, the Entire Panel

Text: Appellant next argues that the record establishes that the pool of jurors knew from media accounts that Appellant had been convicted previously and that the jurors had discussed the matter in the courthouse. He maintains that, as a result, the trial court should have struck the entire panel on its own motion. Appellant never objected to the array. Appellant argues that, either as plain error or as coming within the relaxed application of preservation requirements in capital cases, this Court should consider the issue. The State maintains that a review of the record demonstrates no basis for the court to have disqualified the entire array. The State argues that it is unrealistic to expect potential jurors in the county not to have some knowledge of the case, particularly a capital case. If counsel believed that the publicity was so pervasive and overwhelming, he could have moved for automatic removal of the case under Maryland Rule 4-254(b). Maryland Rule 4-312(a) addresses a party's challenge to the array. The rule provides as follows: A party may challenge the array of jurors on the ground that its members were not selected, drawn, or summoned according to law or on any other ground that would disqualify the panel as a whole. A challenge to the array shall be made and determined before any individual juror from that array is examined, except that the court for good cause may permit it to be made after the jury is sworn but before any evidence is received. Because defense counsel did not raise the issue at any time below, the issue is waived. We find no plain error and, accordingly, we reject Appellant's argument that the trial court should have, sua sponte, excused the entire panel. As we have indicated, it appears that a questionnaire was sent to all prospective jurors. On the questionnaire, the prospective jurors were asked about their knowledge of the case from news reports and other sources. It appears that an affirmative questionnaire answer indicating knowledge of the case prompted specific inquiry by the trial court. Appellant points to the voir dire testimony of fourteen prospective jurors to support his argument that the entire panel was tainted. Upon questioning, prospective jurors Satterthwait, Norwood, Hendricks, Brown, Wilbur, Mitchell, and Bolick said that they had read something in the local newspaper about the case, that Ware had been tried previously, and the conviction reversed. Prospective jurors Pierce, Vanscoy, Matulevich, Stummer, and Levesque heard talk in the courthouse to the same effect. Two of these prospective jurors had heard that Appellant had been sentenced to death. All fourteen individuals stated that their knowledge would not prevent them from judging the case fairly and impartially on the basis of the evidence presented in court alone. Five of the fourteen were stricken for cause, and six others were excused on peremptory challenges. The remaining three prospective jurors, Brown, Levesque, and Vanscoy, served on the jury. Vanscoy was excused before the end of the guilt/innocence phase and was replaced by an alternate; thus, she did not participate in the deliberations or verdict. Appellant never moved to strike any of these three for cause, and, as noted above, Appellant did not exhaust his peremptory challenges. Appellant does not appear to be complaining that any of the fourteen jurors were not excused for cause. His complaint appears to be that, based on the voir dire of those jurors, it is evident that the entire panel was tainted and should have been disqualified. The record does not support Appellant's claim. A criminal defendant's right to a fair and impartial jury is guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments and Article 21 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. The Supreme Court has spoken several times to the application of this protection to criminal cases in which the venire has been exposed to pretrial publicity about the case. Juror knowledge of a case alone does not make the trial unfair: It is not required, however, that the jurors be totally ignorant of the facts and issues involved. In these days of swift, widespread and diverse methods of communication, an important case can be expected to arouse the interest of the public in the vicinity, and scarcely any of those best qualified to serve as jurors will not have formed some impression or opinion as to the merits of the case. This is particularly true in criminal cases. To hold that the mere existence of any preconceived notion as to the guilt or innocence of an accused, without more, is sufficient to rebut the presumption of a prospective juror's impartiality would be to establish an impossible standard. It is sufficient if the juror can lay aside his impression or opinion and render a verdict based on the evidence presented in court. Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 722-23, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961). See also Calhoun v. State, 297 Md. 563, 580, 468 A.2d 45, 52 (1983). This same notion was expressed by the Supreme Court in Murphy v. Florida, 421 U.S. 794, 800, 95 S.Ct. 2031, 44 L.Ed.2d 589 (1975). There, the Court set out the standard for juror impartiality in pretrial publicity cases: The constitutional standard of fairness requires that a defendant have a panel of impartial, indifferent jurors. Qualified jurors need not, however, be totally ignorant of the facts and issues involved.... At the same time, the juror's assurances that he is equal to [the task of laying aside his impression or opinion and rendering a verdict based on the evidence presented in court] cannot be dispositive of the accused's rights, and it remains open to the defendant to demonstrate the actual existence of such an opinion in the mind of the juror as will raise the presumption of partiality. Id. at 799-800, 95 S.Ct. 2031 (citations and internal quotations marks omitted). It is important to distinguish between mere familiarity with petitioner or his past and an actual predisposition against him. Id. at 801, n. 4, 95 S.Ct. 2031. In Maryland, we have had a number of occasions, in cases in which pretrial publicity was at issue, to state that a prospective juror is not disqualified automatically by pretrial knowledge of the case or preconceived opinions of the accused's guilt or innocence. Chief Judge Murphy, writing for the Court in Couser v. State, 282 Md. 125, 138, 383 A.2d 389, 396-97 (1978), stated: It is true, of course, that the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment and Article 21 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights guarantee the right to an impartial jury to an accused in a criminal case; these constitutional guarantees do not, however, insure that a prospective juror will be free of all preconceived notions relating to guilt or innocence, only that he can lay aside his impressions or opinions and render a verdict based solely on the evidence presented in the case. See Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961); Newton v. State, 147 Md. 71, 127 A. 123 (1924); Garlitz v. State, 71 Md. 293, 18 A. 39 (1889). Applying these standards, we cannot say on the record before us that Appellant's right to a fair trial was violated by some unknown prospective jurors' purported knowledge of the case derived from pretrial publicity or discussion in the courthouse outside the courtroom. Appellant has failed to satisfy his burden to demonstrate the actual existence of such an opinion in the mind of any juror or such facts in the record as will raise a presumption of partiality. We hold that the trial court did not err in failing to strike, sua sponte, the entire jury panel.