Opinion ID: 1624316
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Juror Excused During Trial

Text: At the beginning of the third day of trial, Juror 537 informed the trial judge that her husband was approached that morning by a coworker, the defendant's wife, who engaged him in a conversation about the trial. The husband of the juror told her that he remembered Wheeler very well and that Wheeler had to be fired because he stayed high on the job all the time. The juror also told the trial judge that family members of the victim kept staring at her when she would leave the courtroom. The trial judge struck the juror for cause because she had extrajudicial knowledge that the defendant was fired because he stayed high all the time. The question of whether a juror should be excused for cause is a matter within the sound discretion of the trial judge. Thompson; Alexander, supra . The right to an unbiased decision by an impartial jury in a criminal trial is a basic principle of due process. Hodge v. Commonwealth, Ky., 68 S.W.3d 338 (2001). There was no abuse of discretion.