Opinion ID: 1747099
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: removal of jurors

Text: In assignment of error no. 14, defendant claims that LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 798, which allows for the removal for cause of jurors who state that because of their religious beliefs they could not impose a death sentence, is unconstitutional as applied and on its face. Two veniremen did state that because of their religious beliefs they could not under any circumstances vote for the death penalty. The trial court, evidently relying on Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968) and Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 105 S.Ct. 844, 83 L.Ed.2d 841 (1985), and on this court's decisions which in turn rely on the Supreme Court's decisions, see, e.g., State v. Tassin, 536 So.2d 402, 406-07 (La.1988); State v. Mattheson, 407 So.2d 1150, 1159 (La.1981), disqualified them. In defendant's view, though exclusion of jurors on such grounds is permissible under the federal constitution, see Witherspoon, supra, and Witt, supra, the exclusion violates LSA-Const. art. I, § 3, which prohibits all discrimination based on religious beliefs. Defendant's novel argument fails in two ways. First, he has not even argued (much less shown) that the alleged discrimination the two jurors suffered actually constitutes religious discrimination. The record shows that the inquiry was restricted to the question of whether the veniremen could vote for the death penalty. As this court has held, the single attitude of opposition to the death penalty does not represent the kind of... religious ... characteristic that underlies those groups that have been recognized as being distinctive. State v. Lowenfield, 495 So.2d 1245, 1254 (La.1985). Second, even if the reluctance to impose the death penalty were religious in nature, this court has adopted the Witherspoon and Witt standards. [13] This court has on numerous occasions reviewed the disqualification of jurors who stated a religious basis for their inability to impose the death penalty, and has in no instance found a constitutional violation. See, e.g., State v. Sullivan, 596 So.2d 177 (La.1992); State v. Copeland, 530 So.2d 526 (La.1988); State v. Ward, 483 So.2d 578 (La.1986); Lowenfield, 495 So.2d at 1254-55. In light of this substantial jurisprudence, this assignment of error lacks merit.