Opinion ID: 2491988
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: The petit jury

Text: Defendant avers the denial of the second motion for change of venue combined with the denial of three challenges for cause resulted in a biased petit jury. Specifically he singles out three jurors, Mr. Charles Crowder, Mr. Lonnie Stafford, and Ms. Patricia Talley, contending because they were biased the presence of any one of them created an unfair tribunal that denied the defendant due process. We first note defendant accepted all of these jurors whose partiality he now questions. Neither the defense nor the trial court found any reason to even attempt to dismiss these jurors for cause. Nonetheless we have reviewed the voir dire of each of them and find no support for the defendant's argument. Although Mr. Crowder had some knowledge of the case from the news and initially was uncertain as to whether he could be totally objective, he agreed he would abide by the principle that the defendant was innocent until proven guilty and that he would accept the judge's instructions. Mr. Crowder clearly stated the State would have to prove the defendant guilty and he would not find the defendant guilty because of what was in the newspaper. He also agreed the defendant did not have to prove anything. Mr. Stafford acknowledged he had talked about the case with a friend who was acquainted with the victim and he had also read newspaper accounts of the offense in the past and recently. Initially he was biased toward finding the defendant guilty, but agreed that he understood the presumption of innocence and he would accept the judge's charge to set aside any bias or opinion and decide the case solely on the evidence. He also agreed he could give the defendant a clean slate and would do his dead level best to be fair to the defendant. Ms. Talley did not know much about the case and had not formed an opinion or impression as to the defendant's guilt or innocence. She also understood the presumption of innocence and the State's burden of proof. In this appeal, defendant now takes issue with two of her answers to the defense's questions. We find it illuminating to quote the following, with the now challenged answers in bold: Q. [By defense] I guess what this all comes down to Mrs. Talley, can you give all of us a fair trial, including the State and of course the defendant; can you be fair with all of us? A. I think so. Q. Can you be impartial? A. I hope so. Q. That is a tough question, like asking a person if they are a good person. A. (The witness indicates in the affirmative.) At the end of this colloquy, defense told Ms. Talley if she had any special problem that would prohibit her from being a juror she should state it now and that if she were chosen she would not be able to leave. After acknowledging there was nothing to prevent her from serving, the State and defense both accepted Ms. Talley. Bearing all of this mind, even if the defendant had attempted to challenge any of these jurors for cause, the trial court's theoretical denial would not have been erroneous. There is nothing in this record to support any finding that these jurors could not render an impartial verdict based upon the law and evidence. For all of the reasons expressed above, this assignment of error is without merit.