Opinion ID: 2613184
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Failure to Dismiss Two Jurors and Refusal to Allow Supplemental Voir Dire of Other Jurors

Text: Libby contends that the district court erred in refusing to permit individual voir dire to determine the extent of juror exposure to publicity. The jurors were selected in early February, 1990, and on several occasions, they were instructed and admonished, pursuant to NRS 175.121, not to discuss the case or to listen to any news or conversation about the case. Soon after the jury was impaneled and sworn in, however, the State filed the interlocutory appeal regarding the confession Libby made during his discussion with Chief Hayes. The jury was brought back almost two months later, in April, 1990. The district court again admonished them and conducted a group voir dire, inquiring as to whether any of the jurors had heard any information regarding the case. One juror raised his hand. The judge asked the other jurors to step out, and he questioned Mr. Scott, the individual who raised his hand. Mr. Scott told the judge that one week earlier, he read something about a confession in the Humboldt Sun. The court excused Mr. Scott. Counsel for the defense then renewed their motion for change of venue and asked for permission to question individual jurors. According to defense counsel, a female juror had asked a local attorney, Virginia Shane, about the confession, and a male juror had asked his supervisor, Norman Sweeney, about the confession. The judge first called Norman Sweeney to the stand. Sweeney stated that one of his employees, Frank Gastelecutto, was on the prospective panel and that Gastelecutto told him that the week before, he had been listening to the radio when he heard a preface to the news broadcast that the prospective jurors were not to listen. According to Sweeney, Gastelecutto told him that this preface surprised him and he supposed he was to get up and run out of the room. He did not indicate whether he left the room. Counsel for defense requested, but the court denied, individual voir dire of Gastelecutto. Gastelecutto was an alternate juror and he did not participate in deliberation of Libby's case. Next, Virginia Shane was called to the stand. She stated that juror Sue Smith (Shane called her Sue Smith, but it is clear from the record that she meant Sue Brown) had asked her if she knew how long it was going to take the Nevada Supreme Court to rule on thisI don't know if she used the word confession. I think she used the word confession. According to Shane, Smith told her she had read about the confession in the paper, and Shane told her she was not supposed to be reading the paper. Juror Susan Brown was then questioned by defense counsel about her conversation with Shane. Brown said she had inadvertently read the last line of an article regarding the time frame of this court's decision, but she did not know why the matter came to this court. She said she could still be fair and impartial. Brown ultimately was involved in the deliberations of the case. Because Brown was questioned individually and consistently maintained that she could be fair and impartial, the district court did not err in refusing to dismiss her. Gastelecutto was not involved in the ultimate decision of the case and any error in retaining him as an alternate juror was harmless. Although the scope and method of voir dire are within the discretion of the district court, Summers v. State, 102 Nev. 195, 199, 718 P.2d 676, 679 (1986), a defendant must be permitted reasonable voir dire of the prospective jurors. NRS 175.031; Milligan v. State, 101 Nev. 627, 708 P.2d 289 (1985). The district court should have allowed defense counsel to question the other jurors individually, even though this examination was supplemental in nature, concerning a specific point. We conclude, however, that the error was harmless. See Hui v. State, 103 Nev. 321, 323, 738 P.2d 892, 894 (1987). The court performed a thorough examination and admonishment of the jurors once the trial reconvened, and the district judge asked the specific questions at issue: to wit, whether the jurors had heard anything about the case while they temporarily were recessed. Moreover, there is no indication of juror prejudice against Libby. See Summers v. State, 102 Nev. 195, 718 P.2d 676 (1986).