Opinion ID: 1280915
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: mr williamson

Text: Mr. Williamson did state that he had pretty much made up his mind to vote for the death penalty, assuming there was a finding of a statutory aggravating circumstance. However, Mr. Williamson's other responses indicated that he certainly had not done so conclusively and irrevocably. He stated that he would listen to the evidence in aggravation and mitigation before arriving at a sentence and that he could vote for any of the three sentencing options, although he favored the death penalty in most cases of murder. Viewed in its entirety, Mr. Williamson's voir dire is clearly distinguishable from that of the prospective juror in Pope v. State, supra. Mr. Williamson stated that he would not decide punishment until he had heard all of the evidence. Although Mr. Williamson personally favored the death penalty as punishment for murder, he declined to rule out voting for a life sentence. His voir dire may contain seemingly contradictory responses, but prospective jurors' answers frequently will be somewhat contradictory in response to the phrasing of the questions, the manner in which the questions were asked, and the distinctions which they asked the jurors to draw. Ledford v. State, supra at 63(6), 439 S.E.2d 917. An appellate court will defer to the trial court's resolution of any equivocations and conflicts in the prospective jurors' responses on voir dire. Greene v. State, supra; Burgess v. State, supra at 780(6), 450 S.E.2d 680; Ledford v. State, supra at 64(6), 439 S.E.2d 917. Considering the entirety of Mr. Williamson's voir dire, the trial court was authorized to find him qualified to serve. Compare Pope v. State, supra.