Opinion ID: 2273992
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: First Adverse RulingVoir Dire

Text: The first adverse ruling by the circuit court occurred during the voir-dire stage of the trial when counsel for Mr. Moore objected to the State asking, Anyone else think the State should be held to a higher burden than beyond a reasonable doubt? Mr. Moore's attorney argued: He's not asking if they understand. He asking if they think it's fair and . . . he's asking them to pre-judge what he has to do. . . . This doesn't have anything to do with their qualifications or whether they can sit as a juror. This is going towards whether they're going to believe that his side is more fair than the other side is more fair. The circuit court disagreed, and ruled that the question asked generally if the jury could follow the instructions. The course and conduct of voir-dire examination of the venire is primarily within the trial court's discretion and its decision will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. Hall v. State, 315 Ark. 385, 868 S.W.2d 453 (1993). The Hall case is dispositive of this issue. In Hall , the prosecutor, in attempting to discern whether the jurors would hold the State to the correct burden, explained reasonable doubt by informing jurors that they did not have to be one hundred percent certain in order to render a guilty verdict. Id. at 391, 868 S.W.2d at 456. Hall argued that this attempt to quantify reasonable doubt was improper. In affirming, we noted that during the course of voir dire, the trial court quoted the AMCI definition of reasonable doubt and asked one juror in the hearing of others if she would listen to and follow the court's instructions on burden of proof. Similarly, in this case, the prosecutor merely asked if any of the jurors thought the State should be held to a higher burden than beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, we hold that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in ruling that the question was a proper inquiry into whether the jurors would follow the instructions.