Opinion ID: 1101282
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the trial court erred by denying the defendant's causal challenge to venire-woman, england, because of her family relations to one of the state's main witnesses, mr. charles england.

Text: ¶ 27. A juror removed on a causal challenge is one against whom a cause for challenge exists such that the juror's impartiality at trial is likely affected. See Doss v. State, 709 So.2d 369, 385 (Miss.1997). Indeed, the trial judge has discretion to excuse potential jurors for cause if the court believes the juror is unable to try the case impartially. See id. This Court is required to reverse the trial court when this Court clearly is of the opinion that a juror was not competent. Dennis v. State, 91 Miss. 221, 229, 44 So. 825, 826 (1907). Indeed, this Court stated: The right to a trial by an impartial jury, when being prosecuted for crime, is secured by section 26, art. 3, of the Constitution. No more sacred duty can devolve on any court than the duty of seeing to it that this provision of the Constitution receive a strict enforcement. Id. ¶ 28. In Mettetal v. State, 602 So.2d 864 (Miss.1992), we provided that: This Court explained that a prerequisite to presentation of a claim of a denial of constitutional rights due to denial of a challenge for cause is a showing that the defendant had exhausted all of his peremptory challenges and that the incompetent juror(s) was forced to sit on the jury by the trial court's erroneous ruling. Chisholm[Chisolm] v. State, 529 So.2d 635, 639 (Miss.1988). Id. at 869. Further, in Mettetal v. State, 615 So.2d 600, 603 (Miss.1993), we stated that [t]he loss of a peremptory challenge, however, does not constitute a violation of the constitutional right to an impartial jury. Id. Indeed the United States Supreme Court has stated that: [P]eremptory challenges are not of constitutional dimension. They are a means to achieve the end of an impartial jury. So long as the jury that sits is impartial, the fact that the defendant had to use a peremptory challenge to achieve that result does not mean the Sixth Amendment was violated. Ross v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 81, 88, 108 S.Ct. 2273, 101 L.Ed.2d 80 (1988) (citations omitted). ¶ 29. In the instant case, venire member no. 13, Kathy England, was challenged for cause because she is related to State witness Charles England, the chancery clerk during the time period at issue. The court denied the challenge stating that: She was definite about her answer though that she had not talked or discussed with him about this matter and that she could be fair and impartial. She impressed the Court with her ability to be able to do that. In light of her answers I would have toI would to presume something into her answers that were not in the record. Therefore I decline to excuse her for cause. Fleming subsequently used peremptory challenge D-4 to excuse England, then proceeded to exhaust the remainder of its peremptory challenges. ¶ 30. The State argues that there is no list of the venire in the record, thus the issue is barred for lack of a record. Such is meritless because the record contains the voir dire and analysis of the respective venire members. Fleming argues that there were plenty of other venire members from who a jury could have been selected. Fleming reasons that England should have been causally excused, and the jury selected from the remainder of the venire. ¶ 31. While Chisolm, Mettetal, and their progeny specify that reversible error exists when all peremptory challenges are used such that the challenged venire member, in this case England, is forced to sit on the jury, such cases fail to grasp the full ambit of the potential harm that may stem from a trial court's failure to grant a causal challenge. Indeed, it matters not when the peremptory challenges are used, because the expected loss of a peremptory challenge leaves the party wishing to otherwise utilize such a challenge with one less opportunity to strategically try its case. Chisolm, Mettetal, and their progeny are extended such that they are met when there is at least (1) all peremptory challenges but the challenge at issue or the simple use of the peremptory challenge at issue, and (2) any incompetent juror sits. It does not matter whether the venire member at issue is placed on the jury. Indeed, it does not matter whether the venire member at issue had such a high venire number that it was questionable the venire member would be challenged, nor does it matter that the venire member was the first or last to be peremptorily challenged. It simply matters that a party's right to use peremptory challenges has been limited by the trial court's failure to remove for cause an incompetent juror. ¶ 32. In the instant case, all of Fleming's peremptory challenges were exercised, and the court's action limited Fleming's ability to avoid having an incompetent jury forced upon him. While the trial court should have removed venire-woman England for cause because she was related to witness Charles England, Charles was a mere document introduction witness, rather than a fact witness, so the error was harmless. Hence, while the trial court abused its discretion, such abuse was harmless, not reversible, error in this case.