Opinion ID: 1711620
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: questioning of jury panel

Text: McHenry next argues that the district court erred in failing to sequester the potential jurors and to permit McHenry's counsel to individually question each potential juror regarding pretrial publicity. The court refused to sequester the panel or permit the individual sequestered questioning, but permitted questions regarding pretrial publicity to be made to the panel as a whole. The court stated that if during voir dire it became apparent that such sequestration and individual questioning would be necessary to determine whether the potential jurors would be impartial, the court would then permit the jurors to be sequestered and permit individual questioning. McHenry alleges that the court should have permitted sequestration of the potential jurors for individual questioning and that because it did not, he was unable to determine the impact of pretrial publicity on each potential juror and therefore was denied his right to trial by an impartial jury. The district court explained that if one of the potential jurors raised the issue of retrial, the court would intervene and explain to the panel that the fact that the current trial was a retrial was of no significance and that they as jurors would be required to ignore that fact and judge the case anew on the evidence presented. During the initial discussion of jury service, the court emphasized to the panel the nature of a jury trial and the duty of jurors to judge the evidence impartially. The court asked the members of the panel to speak out if any of them were concerned that they could not put aside pretrial publicity and determine the case solely on the evidence presented. There was no response from the panel, and after engaging in a few more questions, the court turned the voir dire over to counsel. Subsequently, one of the potential jurors announced that he was not sure he could approach the case impartially in view of the fact that this was a retrial. The court interrupted the potential juror and addressed the panel as a whole. The court clarified that the issue on voir dire was not whether the potential jurors were aware of pretrial publicity regarding the alleged crime or the fact that the trial was a retrial, but whether the panel could put whatever knowledge they had regarding the case aside and judge the case impartially, considering only the evidence admitted at trial. After this admonition, the court permitted McHenry's counsel to further question the potential juror who had raised the issue of retrial. The potential juror affirmed that he would be able to judge the case based only on the evidence presented at trial. McHenry's counsel asked the members of the panel to raise their hands if any of them had heard any pretrial publicity about the case. Many of the jurors raised their hands. McHenry's counsel then questioned one of the jurors individually, surveying what publicity she had seen regarding the trial and whether she could be impartial. She indicated that she would try to be impartial but was not sure if she would be able to. She indicated that the fact that the case was a retrial would always be in the back of her mind. McHenry's counsel then requested sequestration of the jurors who indicated that they had had contact with pretrial publicity. Counsel stated that he could not further question the potential jurors without addressing specific news items. Counsel pointed out that unless he was able to question each potential juror individually, and sequestered from the venire, he would necessarily expose the other potential jurors to the same news items. The court refused to sequester the panel and permit individual questioning, but indicated that it would permit counsel to go through the panel one by one with nonspecific questions about their contact with pretrial publicity surrounding the case. If any potential juror indicated that he or she had been exposed to pretrial information regarding the case, and it was apparent that the juror needed to be questioned privately, the court would permit private questioning. Barring such an incident, however, the court would not presume that individual sequestered voir dire was necessary. The court then resumed voir dire with a lengthy admonition to the panel regarding impartiality and the importance of considering whether they could be impartial. The court reiterated that the potential jurors had to attempt to assess whether they could put aside any publicity that they may have heard and be willing to judge the case solely on the evidence presented. The court then asked the panel as a whole the following question: Are there any of you who cannot put aside any information that you may have and decide the case on the evidence that comes into this court and this trial today? If so, please raise your hand. The record reflects that several hands were raised, and thereafter, the court excused each person who raised his or her hand. The court then questioned the replacement jurors on the same matters. Prior to the end of voir dire, McHenry's counsel again requested that he be able to question the potential jurors individually regarding the effect of pretrial publicity on their ability to consider the case impartially. Counsel admitted to the court that he could not specifically articulate how the individual questioning would aid the court in determining whether a potential juror should be excused. As before, the court stated that it would permit McHenry's counsel to ask the entire panel about specific news reports and then pursue further questioning about their ability to be impartial. However, the court refused to sequester the potential jurors so the questions could be answered individually. The court emphasized that the panel had been asked about whether they had been exposed to pretrial publicity and whether they could put this aside and judge the case based solely on the evidence. The members of the panel that remained had all indicated that they could be impartial. Thus, the court reasoned that sequestered individual questioning of the panel was not necessary to determine whether the members could be impartial. The court also stated that it would instruct the potential jurors that if they had any specific concerns, they could contact the bailiff during the lunch break to express them. Subsequently, one member of the panel contacted the court after the lunch break regarding pretrial publicity, and that potential juror was questioned privately with both parties' counsel present. During questioning, the juror informed the court that she felt she had formed an opinion and did not believe that she could be impartial. She was excused for cause. Once the panel reconvened, the court again explained the irrelevance of the fact that the case was a retrial and once again asked the potential jurors whether any of them had concerns about whether they could be impartial. None of the members responded, and the parties were then requested to make their peremptory challenges. Except when there is a showing that without sequestration a party's rights would be prejudiced, a party has no right to examine a potential juror out of the presence of all the other potential jurors. State v. McHenry, 247 Neb. 167, 525 N.W.2d 620 (1995); State v. Thompson, 244 Neb. 375, 507 N.W.2d 253 (1993). McHenry's only colorable argument that sequestration and individual questioning were required to prevent prejudice to his trial is that McHenry would not be able to question each potential juror about pretrial publicity without thereby exposing the other potential jurors to the publicity. The same argument was raised by counsel in State v. McHenry, supra , in which we discussed State v. Bradley, 236 Neb. 371, 461 N.W.2d 524 (1990). In Bradley, the defendant argued that he was unable to ask searching questions required under the circumstances. However, the record in Bradley was replete with questioning regarding pretrial publicity and whether such publicity had caused anyone to form an opinion as to Bradley's guilt or innocence. We held that the district court's failure to sequester the jury panel did not unfairly prejudice the defendant. See, also, State v. Thompson, supra . In the case at bar, we find that the circumstances of the voir dire do not demonstrate how McHenry was prejudiced. The prospective jurors were admonished by the court on numerous occasions concerning pretrial publicity and the irrelevance of the fact that the case was a retrial. The panel was questioned several times as to whether any of the members thought that they could determine McHenry's guilt based solely on the evidence presented at trial. The judge specifically instructed the panel that if any panel member had further concerns, he or she should contact the bailiff so that the court, along with the parties, could individually hear and address the concerns. In each case, when a panel member stated that he or she could not put aside pretrial publicity, the member was dismissed for cause. As in Bradley, McHenry has not shown how further indepth questioning of sequestered jurors would have revealed anything more than was ascertained during the jury selection. Therefore, McHenry has not established that his rights were prejudiced by the failure of the district court to sequester the panel to permit individual questioning.