Opinion ID: 2014418
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Prospective Juror T.V.

Text: Defendant claims that the trial court should have granted his for cause challenge to T.V., which was based on this prospective juror's acknowledgment during voir dire that he had read a newspaper article about jury selection in the case. When prospective jurors filled out written questionnaires two months before voir dire, the trial court instructed them not to read media accounts of the case. Defendant now argues that T.V.'s supposed disregard of this instruction showed that he would not have been able to comply with future instructions, thereby rendering him unfit for service. T.V. did nothing warranting exclusion under CPL 270.20 (1) (b). T.V.'s forthright acknowledgment that he had read the article displayed not a wanton disregard of a court order, but rather an honest misunderstanding of what the trial court had instructed. The record shows that T.V. incorrectly believed that only articles detailing the underlying facts of the crimes charged were off limits. Nor does the rest of the voir dire show that the juror was unwilling to follow the trial court's instructions. T.V. gave every indication that he could be impartial. When instructed further on the scope of the trial court's direction not to read media accounts of the case, T.V. stated that he would comply.