Opinion ID: 844251
Heading Depth: 7
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Prospective Juror G.H.

Text: With respect to Prospective Juror G.H., we conclude that her answers to the questionnaire clearly indicated that she could not fulfill the duties of a capital juror. Although G.H. expressed a general willingness to follow the trial court's instructions in spite of any personal feelings or beliefs to the contrary, she also exhibited unyielding general opposition to the death penalty based on her religious and moral beliefs and stated she would always vote for a life sentence, regardless of the evidence. G.H. expressed her stance against the death penalty as follows: Only God has the right to take a life; The more I study the word of God, I find it more difficult to put someone else in a position to die; No one is to take a life; and When one believes that God created us to follow him and Jesus by faithit would be difficult to follow man's law. Seemingly contradictory to these sentiments is the rating she gave herself, an 8, on the 1 to 10 scale described above, indicating she was moderately in favor of the death penalty. When asked to explain this rating, however, she stated that this level of support was essentially reserved for the situation, unlike here, where [the victim] was my family member because it would be difficult not wanting that person [(i.e., the killer)] to suffer. Such sentiment, though, does not dilute the otherwise clear impression from G.H.'s questionnaire responses that she was otherwise patently opposed to the death penalty. Taken together, G.H.'s questionnaire answers make it clear that she would be unable to set aside her religious and moral convictions against the death penalty and follow the law in determining penalty. The trial court properly dismissed her for cause.