Opinion ID: 891652
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Denial of Challenges for Cause During Jury Selection

Text: {30} Defendant argues that the district court's denial of his requests to strike two jurors, Jurors 28 and 35, for cause violated Defendant's right to an impartial jury. Juror 28's cousin was murdered and Juror 28 did not believe the perpetrator's sentence was sufficient. Juror 28 indicated that he would follow the law as stated by the judge and be fair in his determination of guilt, though it would be difficult for him to ignore the victims' families' feelings. Juror 35's friend was murdered nine years prior, and Juror 35 stated that the feelings that arose after the murder would be rekindled during trial. Juror 35 stated those feelings would not cause her to be unfair to either side. The district court denied Defendant's attempts to have Jurors 28 or 35 struck for cause. As a result, Defendant used peremptory strikes to remove Jurors 28 and 35.
{31} [W]e review the trial court's rulings regarding the selection of jurors for an abuse of discretion because the trial court is in the best position to assess a juror's state of mind, based upon the juror's demeanor and credibility. State v. Allen, 2000-NMSC-002, ¶ 83, 128 N.M. 482, 994 P.2d 728 (filed 1999) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). An abuse of discretion exists when the trial court acted in an obviously erroneous, arbitrary, or unwarranted manner. Gallegos, 2009-NMSC-017, ¶ 21, 146 N.M. 88, 206 P.3d 993 (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted). Where the trial court clearly abused its discretion in failing to excuse a juror who could not be impartial, prejudice is presumed if the petitioner used all peremptory challenges on potential jurors who could be excused for cause before a jury was seated. Fuson v. State, 105 N.M. 632, 634, 735 P.2d 1138, 1140 (1987). The challenging party bears the burden of proving juror bias. State v. Baca, 99 N.M. 754, 756, 664 P.2d 360, 362 (1983).
{32} The jury may not consider the consequences of its verdict. State v. Brown, 1997-NMSC-029, ¶ 12, 123 N.M. 413, 941 P.2d 494. In this case, although both Jurors 28 and 35 indicated the trial would cause them to think about the murders of their loved ones, both also indicated that they would be able to be fair and follow the instructions of the judge. The district court denied the request based on this fact and we will not second-guess his judgment, and Defendant failed to demonstrate that his use of peremptory strikes on Jurors 28 and 35 resulted in prejudice. Cf. Rivera v. Illinois, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 129 S.Ct. 1446, 1453, 173 L.Ed.2d 320 (2009) (If a defendant is tried before a qualified jury composed of individuals not challengeable for cause, the loss of a peremptory challenge due to a state court's good-faith error is no matter of federal constitutional concern.). As we will not presume prejudice and Defendant has failed to show prejudice, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in failing to strike the jurors for cause.