Opinion ID: 1383657
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Excusal of Juror Williams

Text: Appellant contends the trial court erred in excusing Juror Williams for cause. We disagree. Juror Williams is a Jehovah's Witness minister. A general tenet of Jehovah's Witnesses is that they can not sit in judgment of another person. During the general qualifying of the jury pool, a bench conference was held after which, Juror Williams was excused by the trial court. The trial court then relayed what had occurred during the bench conference for the record. The trial court stated defense counsel had asked Juror Williams if he could sit in judgment following special counseling. Juror Williams said he thought that there was some counseling which might enable him to serve as a juror but the counseling might take four days. Appellant agreed with the trial court's recollection but he objected to the court's excusal of Juror Williams. Appellant stated that the trial court's excusal prevented him from rehabilitating the juror during individual voir dire as to his view on the death penalty and the special circumstances which might allow him to sit as a juror. The trial court stated that he excused Juror Williams without regard to his view on the death penalty; it was based solely upon the fact that his religious beliefs would not allow him to sit as a juror and that the special circumstances which might allow him to serve would require four days of counseling. On review, the trial court's disqualification of a prospective juror will not be disturbed where there is a reasonable basis from which the trial court could have concluded that the juror would not have been able to faithfully discharge his responsibilities as a juror under the law. State v. Green, 301 S.C. 347, 392 S.E.2d 157 (1990): State v. Gaskins, 284 S.C. 105, 326 S.E.2d 132 (1985); State v. Linder, 276 S.C. 304, 278 S.E.2d 335 (1981). The trial court properly excluded Juror Williams because his religious beliefs which prohibit judging another person would have prevented or substantially impaired the performance of his duties as a juror. Appellant also contends the trial court violated S.C.Code Ann. § 16-3-20 (Supp.1997), when he did not allow appellant to question Juror Williams. Section 16-3-20(D) provides, in pertinent part: (D) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 14-7-1020, in cases involving capital punishment a person called as a juror must be examined by the attorney for the defense. We note appellant did ask Juror Williams two questions and we have held section 16-3-20(D) does not require the trial judge to allow counsel to engage in lengthy interviews of prospective jurors. Smart, 274 S.C. 303, 305, 262 S.E.2d 911, 912 (1980); see also Atkins, supra . In any event, we hold the trial court did not violate this section. Here, the trial judge excused Juror Williams prior to any individual voir dire being conducted. The evident purpose of Section 16-3-20(D) is to secure to counsel for the defense in death cases the right to also question jurors during their voir dire examination. This is the sole limitation upon the discretion of the court in voir dire examinations authorized under Code Section 14-7-1020. [4] That section is not repealed and the reference to it in Section 16-3-20(D) impliedly recognizes that, in all other respects, the discretion of the court in the conduct of voir dire examinations continues to exist. State v. Smart, 274 S.C. at 305, 262 S.E.2d at 912 (footnote added). See also State v. Atkins, 293 S.C. 294, 360 S.E.2d 302 (1987); State v. Owens, 277 S.C. 189, 284 S.E.2d 584, 586 (1981). Section 14-7-1010 provides, in part: The presiding judge shall at each term of court ascertain the qualifications of the jurors. The presiding judge shall determine whether any juror is disqualified or exempted by law and only he shall disqualify or excuse any juror as may be provided by law. There are no limitations or additional requirement under this section in capital cases. Thus, the trial judge alone is to determine whether a juror is qualified prior to the individual voir dire allowed pursuant to sections 14-7-1020 and 16-3-20. See State v. South, 285 S.C. 529, 331 S.E.2d 775 (1985) (in a capital case, trial judge did not abuse discretion by excluding two prospective jurors because of health and educational conflicts). The trial court's decision to excuse Juror Williams hinged on the required counseling which would take several days in order to allow Juror Williams to serve. We find no error.