Opinion ID: 1298321
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: voir dire examination of the trial judge

Text: In the instant case, defendant argues that the Arizona death penalty statute, A.R.S. § 13-703, violates the constitutional right to due process because it fails to provide for the voir dire of the trial judge for possible bias or prejudice so that a defendant can intelligently exercise his peremptory challenge for cause. Several general propositions of law run contrary to the defendant's claim. At the outset, a judge is presumed to be fair. State v. Perkins, 141 Ariz. 278, 286, 686 P.2d 1248, 1256 (1984). Secondly, as this court has stated in a case where an accused claimed it was his fundamental right to approve the judge: While defendant in a criminal case may be entitled, as a constitutional right, to an impartial (and independent) judge, he is not entitled, as a matter of right, to any particular judge, or a constitutional right to a change of judge. (citations omitted). State v. Reid, 114 Ariz. 16, 21, 559 P.2d 136, 141 (1976), cert. denied, Reid v. Arizona, 431 U.S. 921, 97 S.Ct. 2191, 53 L.Ed.2d 234 (1977). This court's definition of bias and prejudice further enunciates the standard applied to judicial disqualification: Bias and prejudice means a hostile feeling or spirit of ill-will, or undue friendship or favoritism, towards one of the litigants. The fact that a judge may have an opinion as to the merits of the cause or a strong feeling about the type of litigation involved, does not make the judge biased or prejudiced. State v. Myers, 117 Ariz. 79, 86, 570 P.2d 1252, 1259 (1977), cert. denied, Myers v. Arizona, 435 U.S. 928, 98 S.Ct. 1498, 55 L.Ed.2d 524 (1978). Defendant's claim is not the same as the right to voir dire a jury. A judge is not the unknown quantity a prospective juror may be. Furthermore, the right to a fair and impartial tribunal is adequately protected by Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure 10.1 and 10.2, which allow for a change of judge. Finally, the fact that there is mandatory appeal in death sentence cases insures that this court will independently review the findings to determine if they are supported by the record, and not based on bias and prejudice. State v. Jeffers, 135 Ariz. at 428, 661 P.2d at 1129. Defendant has no constitutional right to conduct a voir dire examination of the trial judge.