Opinion ID: 2570477
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Statement by the court

Text: In his third assertion of ineffective assistance, Cook argues that his trial counsel failed to object to a statement by the court, which he claims instructed the jury to decide the case based on emotion rather than the evidence. The statement occurred immediately prior to voir dire when the court shared two anecdotes with the venire and then said: Now, I tell you those stories for a purpose. One of them is they're mildly amusing, but the other one is I want you to understand that while what we're doing here is serious business, that doesn't mean that we want you to be automatons or lose your since [sic] of humanity. The humanity that the jurors bring to the process is one of the things that we look for precisely, so we want you to laugh at the things funny and cry at the things sad and express that full range of human emotions. Cook styles that comment as a jury instruction and claims that it conflicts with the court's later instruction to the jury that they must not be governed by sympathy, prejudice or public opinion. He contends that when two inconsistent instructions are given and one of them is improper, we must order a new trial. State v. Eldredge, 45 Wyo. 488, 21 P.2d 545, 547 (Wyo.1933). Cook concludes that his defense counsel was remiss in failing to object to the conflicting instructions and, therefore, rendered ineffective assistance. The State counters by arguing that the court's statement was not a jury instruction, nor did it invite the jury to decide the case based on emotion rather than evidence, and defense counsel was justified in letting it pass without objection. We agree. In context, the court's statement clearly admonished the venire to be candid and genuine in their responses to voir dire inquiries. The court did not err by so admonishing the panel, nor did defense counsel render ineffective assistance by not objecting.