Opinion ID: 2038479
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: People v Wilson

Text: This case presents a serious variation of the presence scenarios involving juror examination, in that the precipitating event occurred at an earlier stage than the usual prospective juror examinations. Wilson's second degree murder conviction arose out of his fatal shooting of a friend in a dispute over a woman, Ronnette Parker, who testified at trial as an eyewitness to the shooting. At trial, before the actual questioning of one particular jury panel had begun, one member of the prospective panel  the only juror at issue here  asked the court staff if he could speak to the Trial Judge privately. He did not want to serve as a juror, but neither did he want to speak out in open court, and certainly not in the presence or hearing of the defendant because of the nature of his concern  fear for his safety. He was taken to the Judge, who spoke with him alone without the presence of any of the lawyers or the defendant. Only a court reporter was present to make a record that was later sealed. The juror stated that he knew the defendant from his neighborhood and was concerned for his safety if he were even considered for this jury service. He and the defendant were sufficiently acquainted to greet each other and speak on the street, but they did not know each other by name. The prospective juror told the Trial Judge he was afraid that the defendant would be mad at him if he said in open court that he did not want to serve as a juror, especially in light of the small number of minority jurors on the panel. The juror is himself African-American. His specific fear was that the defendant would have had friends from the neighborhood  who the juror knew were not then in jail  beat him up, shoot him or kill him. Finally, when the Trial Judge told the juror that defendant's counsel, if he were present, would have an obligation to tell defendant what occurred, the juror objected strenuously to the attorney's presence or even knowledge of his expressed fears. The Trial Judge excused the juror. He informed the lawyers only that he had held an in camera examination relating to jury selection requested by a prospective juror and that he had sealed the transcript. Eighteen months after the defendant's conviction, the Trial Judge told the prosecutor and defense counsel the details of the excusal, and added that the defendant's extensive criminal history also supported his conclusion that the juror was credible and genuinely concerned for his safety. The Appellate Division affirmed defendant's conviction after a jury trial, holding that the defendant's right to presence was not implicated, because the questioning of the juror occurred before the customary voir dire of the panel was started, and because the entire purpose of the questioning was to keep from defendant the founded fact of this juror's fear (211 AD2d 136). The Court added that inviting defendant's counsel, who would have had an obligation to tell defendant, into the in camera conference was not required. A Judge of this Court granted defendant leave to appeal.