Opinion ID: 2187830
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Venireperson Douglas

Text: In response to the state's questions during voir dire, Douglas stated that she could go for the death penalty. Without qualification, she said that she could decide whether the state met its burden of proof, whether aggravating circumstances existed beyond a reasonable doubt, whether mitigating factors outweighed aggravating factors, and whether the death penalty was appropriate. When asked whether she could sign a verdict form while acting as the foreperson of the jury, however, Douglas replied that she did not know whether she could. Douglas said that when it came to signing the paper, she would feel as if she were committing murder, too. Venireperson Douglas, unlike venireperson Fox, did not equivocate when asked whether she could impose the sentence of death. The trial court did not, however, abuse its discretion when it disqualified Douglas. It is true that [a] juror's equivocation about his ability to follow the law in a capital case together with an unequivocal statement that he could not sign a verdict of death can provide a basis for the trial court to exclude the venireperson from the jury. Rousan, 961 S.W.2d at 840; see also Kreutzer, 928 S.W.2d at 866-67. It does not follow, however, as appellant insists, that both equivocation and an unequivocal statement about being able to sign the death verdict are required before the trial court may disqualify a venireperson. An unequivocal statement concerning a venireperson's inability to sign a death verdict alone is enough. State v. Johnson, 968 S.W.2d 686, 694 (Mo. banc 1998). An uncompromising statement by a juror that he or she refuses to sign a death warrant hints at an uncertainty underlying the juror's determination to consider the full range of punishment. No panel of twelve jurors, all of whom decided that he or she could not sign a verdict form assessing the death penalty against the defendant, could be said to have the unimpaired ability to consider the appropriateness of the death penalty. The trial court, therefore, did not run afoul of the rule that the exclusion of venire members must be limited to ... those whose views would prevent them from making an impartial decision on the question of guilt. Gray v. Mississippi, 481 U.S. 648, 657-58, 107 S.Ct. 2045, 95 L.Ed.2d 622 (1986) (citing Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1967)).