Opinion ID: 1670110
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: failure to request individual voir dire on pretrial publicity

Text: Johnson argues that the trial court erred in summarily denying his claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to request individual voir dire on pretrial publicity and for failure to move to strike the panel when jurors made prejudicial remarks. He alleges that statements were made that demonstrated bias and prejudgment based upon media coverage which tainted the entire panel. Johnson argues that Badini's failure to request individual voir dire or to move to strike the entire panel was ineffective assistance and he was prejudiced. The circuit court held that Johnson failed to demonstrate how the exposure to other venire members' opinions affected the outcome of the case. The court asked all the venire members if they had heard anything about the case in the media. Of the individuals who indicated that they heard about the case, three venire members expressed opinions concerning how they felt about what they heard. Those venire members who stated an opinion or who expressed a doubt about being fair-minded were subsequently stricken for cause. The remaining venire members who stated, without more, that they had heard about the case in the media stated that they could be fair-minded. The purpose of voir dire is to secure an impartial jury. Teffeteller v. Dugger, 734 So.2d 1009, 1028 (Fla.1999). Additionally, the United States Supreme Court has held that individual voir dire to determine juror impartiality in the face of pretrial publicity is constitutionally compelled only if the trial court's failure to ask these questions renders the trial fundamentally unfair. Id. at 1028-29 (citing Mu'Min v. Virginia, 500 U.S. 415, 111 S.Ct. 1899, 114 L.Ed.2d 493 (1991)). The selection process that the Johnson I trial court used, asking the venire members about their knowledge of the case and their ability to set aside that knowledge, was sufficient to ensure that the trial was not fundamentally unfair. See State v. Knight, 866 So.2d 1195, 1210 (Fla.2003) (where voir dire method used did not expose venire to other venire members' knowledge of the case, refusal to conduct individual voir dire was not error). In order for the statement of one venire member to taint the panel, the venire member must mention facts that would not otherwise be presented to the jury. Pender v. State, 530 So.2d 391 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); Wilding v. State, 427 So.2d 1069 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). No venire member in Johnson's case mentioned a fact that would not otherwise be presented to the jury. A venire member's expression of an opinion before the entire panel is not normally considered sufficient to taint the remainder of the panel. Brower v. State, 727 So.2d 1026, 1027 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). Thus, the fact that the comments were made does not show that Johnson was prejudiced by the failure of counsel to request individual voir dire. Nor would a motion to strike the venire have been meritorious. The trial court did not err in summarily denying the claim.