Opinion ID: 1151655
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: terry a. borel

Text: The defendant contends the trial court erred in denying his challenge for cause of this prospective juror. Bourque argues Mr. Borel had a conflict of interest in that he had been permitted to pay a fine in lieu of jail time for a petty theft and his appreciation to the district attorney rendered him unable to be a fair and impartial juror. The record shows Mr. Borel was charged for taking gravel from the side of a road seven or eight years prior to his voir dire examination. Instead of going to court, Mr. Borel met with the district attorney, Danny Guidry, and paid a fine of $200. Mr. Borel agreed the district attorney had helped him and had done him a favor by handling the case in that manner so that Mr. Borel would not have to miss a whole day of work. Mr. Borel later stated he did not feel he had been let off by the district attorney's office. He felt the judge in the case had set the fine and he just paid it at the district attorney's office rather than going to court. He repeatedly affirmed this experience would not affect his ability to be fair and impartial to the defendant. The trial court denied Bourque's challenge for cause, finding the relationship between Mr. Borel and the district attorney's office remote. Defense counsel objected to the ruling and exercised a peremptory challenge against Mr. Borel. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant's challenge for cause. The defendant has failed to show Mr. Borel's one-time involvement with the district attorney's office, and with a different district attorney, would prevent Mr. Borel from being a fair and impartial juror. See Lee, 559 So.2d at 1317 (where prospective juror had previously hired district attorney for unrelated legal matters, and who stated he might do so in the future, this court held insufficient to grant challenge for cause absent showing the relationship would have influenced the juror's decision); La.C.Cr.P. art. 797(3).