Opinion ID: 792092
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Factual findings of the Michigan courts

Text: 22 Based on the record that existed at the time, the Michigan trial court and the Michigan Court of Appeals found that Juror 457 gave honest answers at voir dire and did not conceal or misrepresent any information sought during that portion of the trial. Johnson, 631 N.W.2d at 7. The Michigan Court of Appeals acknowledged Juror 457's voir dire responses that she ha[d] been assaulted and that someone had hit her on the head with a gun when she was a teenager. Id. Johnson's revelation in his motion for a new trial that Juror 457 was the complaining witness in a currently pending domestic violence prosecution, id. at 6, did not cause the state courts to change their findings. 23 During habeas review before the district court, Johnson succeeded in introducing new evidence via a motion to expand the record. This evidence consisted of records of charges, proceedings, and convictions for five separate domestic violence incidents involving Juror 457 as the complaining witness, including the pending prosecution of which Johnson and the Michigan Court of Appeals were already aware (because Johnson had raised the matter in his state-court motion for a new trial). 24 The additional evidence does not refute the fact that, when asked about her previous experience as a crime victim, Juror 457 truthfully answered that she had been assaulted. This response does not imply that there was only one assault, nor is it misleading as to the particular nature of the assaults (the assaults on Juror 457 were domestic in nature). The response also implies no time frame for the assaults, so the fact that one of the incidents was currently being prosecuted does not contradict the truthfulness of Juror 457's answer. 25 Further, there is no evidence that Juror 457 deliberately lied or concealed information when she responded to defense counsel's question about being threatened with a weapon when she said that she had been hit in the head with a gun as a teenager but could disregard the experience. The record reflects, however, that Juror 457 was the victim of a felonious assault in November of 1997, only five months prior to voir dire. This incident resulted in the assailant being accused of assaulting Juror 457 with a hand gun without intent to murder or to inflict great bodily harm. Id. Nothing in the record indicates that Juror 457 was hit in the head with a hand gun at that time (contrary to Johnson's assertion in his pleadings). 26 These facts do not establish that Juror 457 lied or concealed information in response to defense counsel's question. Johnson failed to show that Juror 457 was not in fact hit in the head with a gun when she was a teenager. And as to the much more recent assault with a hand gun, Johnson presented no proof to show that Juror 457 deliberately concealed the incident as opposed to simply having overlooked it. Particularly telling is that Johnson presented no affidavit from Juror 457 that explains her voir dire responses. 27 Likewise, the record does not show that Juror 457 lied or concealed information when she failed to respond to the more general questions put to the panel of potential jurors by the trial court, the prosecutor, and the defense counsel. The particular questions cited by Johnson are so indefinite and call for such subjective responses that Juror 457's silence cannot fairly be said to be false or misleading. Although Johnson argues that these questions were obviously designed to evoke a response from a person with her background, he fails to set forth clear and convincing evidence that Juror 457's lack of response amounted to concealment. 28 In sum, Johnson has been unable to rebut the presumption that the findings of the Michigan courts were correct. The findings are supported by the evidence and must be given deference under AEDPA. See McAdoo, 365 F.3d at 493-94. 29