Opinion ID: 1809395
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 25

Heading: Ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to ask potential jurors reverse-Witherspoon questions during voir dire.

Text: ¶ 60. On direct appeal, Havard argued that his counsel were ineffective by impermissibly failing to ask reverse- Witherspoon  questions, or rather, whether the jurors would automatically vote for the death penalty. Irving v. State, 498 So.2d 305, 310 (Miss.1986) (citing Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968)). As discussed in Havard's first post-conviction relief issue supra, the instant issue was raised by Havard on direct appeal as his Issue II. The Court refused to consider on direct appeal the affidavit of juror number twenty-nine, Willie Thomas (who was selected as a member of the trial jury as juror number eight in the order of selection). For reasons previously discussed, this Court held that Havard had preserved the issue for post-conviction proceedings. ¶ 61. In addressing this issue on the merits, absent Thomas's affidavit, the Court held: Considering the reverse- Witherspoon  issue, absent the juror affidavit, the exact assignment of error here is that defense counsel was ineffective by failing to ask reverse- Witherspoon  questions, meaning defense counsel should have asked whether the jurors would automatically vote for the death penalty. Irving, 498 So.2d at 310. Under this rule, the United States Supreme Court held that a juror must be excused if his or her views on the death penalty would unfairly affect the outcome of the jury verdict. Witherspoon, 391 U.S. at 520[, 88 S.Ct. 1770]. Trial counsel did not ask reverse- Witherspoon  questions, but the trial court did. The trial judge asked if any potential juror would automatically vote for the death penalty. Conversely, the judge also asked if any potential juror would automatically vote against the death penalty. The trial court therefore conducted both a Witherspoon examination and a reverse- Witherspoon  examination. Worth noting is that the trial judge did strike at least nine venire members for cause at the request of the State based on Witherspoon considerations. Neither the State nor defense counsel challenged Thomas for cause or peremptorily. The proper questions were asked by the court and counsel and were answered by the potential jurors. The trial judge questioned the jurors on their abilities or inabilities, both as a group and individually, to consider a death sentence. The trial judge also requested that the attorneys not be redundant in their voir dire examination, keeping in mind the voir dire the court had conducted. Honoring this request, defense counsel, during the voir dire, stated to the venire, I'm not going to ask you anything that the Judge or [counsel for the state] asked you unless we really need to. Again, we cannot find that trial counsel's silence during this phase of voir dire constituted reversible error, when considering the totality of the voir dire examination conducted by the trial judge and the attorneys. Succinctly stated, all necessary questions were propounded to the venire during the whole of voir dire. Defense counsel, having heard the questions and the responses from the venire, and having observed the jurors' demeanor throughout the voir dire, was then free to choose not to repeat the questions. We cannot fairly say defense counsel's performance was deficient and prejudiced the defense. Therefore, this issue fails under the Strickland test, and is thus without merit. Havard, 928 So.2d at 786-87. The issue is now before this Court again, along with Thomas's affidavit. ¶ 62. Mississippi Rules of Evidence, Rule 606, Competency of Juror as Witness, provides: (b) Inquiry Into Validity of Verdict or Indictment. Upon an inquiry into the validity of a verdict or indictment, a juror may not testify as to any matter or statement occurring during the course of the jury's deliberations or to the effect of anything upon his or any other juror's mind or emotions as influencing him to assent to or dissent from the verdict or indictment or concerning his mental processes in connection therewith, except that a juror may testify on the question whether extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jury's attention or whether any outside influence was improperly brought to bear upon any juror. Nor may his affidavit or evidence of any statement by him concerning a matter about which he would be precluded from testifying be received for these purposes. (Emphasis added). ¶ 63. The affidavit of Willie Thomas does not meet the exception to Rule 606(b), and it should again be excluded from our consideration. Notwithstanding Rule 606(b), Thomas's affidavit does not offer merit to Havard's claim. Paragraphs three and four of Thomas's affidavit stated: I believe that the death penalty is the appropriate punishment for Mr. Havard. I think a person should be prepared to give what they take. If you take a life, a life is required. I think the same punishment should be given to everyone who kills. I felt this way before I served on the jury and I still feel this way today. I would feel this way even if it were my own son on trial. If people knew they would pay with their lives, there would be less killing. (Havard's Exhibit 15, at ¶¶ 3-4). This affidavit simply shows that Thomas supports the death penalty. Nothing in this affidavit states that Thomas would automatically vote for imposition of the death penalty in every case without first considering the facts of the particular case, including any mitigating circumstances. As the state points out, the question is not whether Thomas believes in the death penalty, but whether he can follow the law. Nothing in the affidavit stated that Thomas would disregard the trial court's instructions and arbitrarily impose the death penalty in every case regardless of the facts. Thomas' affidavit does not add merit to Havard's claim. ¶ 64. Havard also offers the affidavit of Natman Schaye, whom Havard asserts is a nationally recognized capital litigator. The summation of Mr. Schaye's affidavit is that he is of the opinion that Havard's defense counsel were deficient in failing to ask questions during voir dire to determine the opinions and attitudes of the venire regarding the death penalty. He further believes that Havard was prejudiced by counsel's deficient performance as evidenced by juror Willie Thomas's affidavit. ¶ 65. Our previous discussion supra regarding this issue reveals that both Witherspoon and reverse- Witherspoon  questions were asked by the trial court. The trial court then instructed counsel for the state and the defense not to repeat questions already asked of the venire panel. This Court concluded that the panel was adequately questioned during the whole of the voir dire examination. Mr. Schaye's affidavit is not persuasive to the contrary. Havard's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel still does not pass the standard set forth in Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052. This issue is without merit.