Opinion ID: 339203
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Adequacy of Voir Dire

Text: 76 Defendant contends that the district court abused its discretion and committed reversible error by failing to make adequate inquiry into the attitudes of the jury about psychiatry or prejudice against a defense of insanity. 77 For the following reasons we believe the voir dire was adequate. 78 Pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 24(a), 8 the trial court conducted the examination of prospective jurors. The trial judge has considerable discretion over the latitude and manner of voir dire examination. United States v. Desmarais, 531 F.2d 632 (1st Cir. 1976). However, the trial judge does not possess unlimited discretion to ignore proposed questions. United States v. Lewin, 467 F.2d 1132, 1138 (7th Cir. 1972). The court's discretion is subject to the essential demands of fairness. Aldridge v. United States, 283 U.S. 308, 310, 51 S.Ct. 470, 471, 75 L.Ed. 1054 (1931), cited in United States v. Dellinger, 472 F.2d 340, 367 (7th Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 410 U.S. 970, 93 S.Ct. 1443, 35 L.Ed.2d 706. Adequate questioning must be conducted to provide under the facts in the particular case some basis for a reasonably knowledgeable exercise of the right of challenge, whether for cause or peremptory. Lewin, 467 F.2d at 1137-38; Dellinger,472 F.2d at 367-68; United States v. Martin, 507 F.2d 428, 432 (7th Cir. 1974). 79 Defendant complains in a general way about the depth of inquiry into attitudes of the jury relating to psychiatry and reliance upon an insanity defense. After examining the voir dire conducted by the trial judge and comparing his inquiry to the questions suggested by the defendant and the Government, we do not believe that the scope of inquiry was improperly limited. The district judge's questions touched upon the following areas: employment relating to psychiatric treatment; contact with learning on the subject of psychiatry and psychology; contact with people interested in psychiatry or psychology; members of the family receiving psychiatric or psychological treatment; personal experiences which would color the juror's judgment on the question of an insanity defense; inquiry as to whether the individual had any reason to feel one way or the other about an insanity defense; books read on psychiatry or psychology; willingness to consider expert opinions with an open mind; and whether the juror knows a psychiatrist or a psychologist. 80 In light of the scope of questions asked, we cannot say that the district court abused its discretion in limiting the scope of voir dire. The questions asked provided defendant with a reasonable basis for exercise of the right to challenge.