Opinion ID: 867478
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Adequately Question Prospective Jurors

Text: ¶ 95 Moody also argues that the trial judge's refusal to use the questionnaire resulted in the failure to ask several questions necessary to ensure a fair and impartial jury. To succeed on a claim that the court failed to adequately question the jury panel, Moody must demonstrate not only that the voir dire examination was inadequate, but also that, as a result of the inadequate questioning, the jury selected was not fair, unbiased, and impartial. See Walden, 183 Ariz. at 607, 905 P.2d at 986. He does not meet this burden. ¶ 96 Moody's brief does set forth several groups of questions from the questionnaire that he asserts were not specifically explored on voir dire: jurors' experience with dissociative identity disorder, the effects of cocaine, and the credibility of police officers. He concedes that the trial court asked general questions covering each of these areas with much broader strokes  asking, for example, about jurors' experiences with mental illness, drugs and alcohol, and law enforcement. He urges, however, that the questions did not go far enough. ¶ 97 Moody's claims are nearly identical to the ones this court rejected in Walden, 183 Ariz. at 608, 905 P.2d at 987. In that case, a defendant whose jury questionnaire was not used at trial claimed that although many of his questions were adequately covered by the court, other relevant and appropriate ones were not. Id. We found no error in Walden's case because he made no attempt to show how the absence of any particular question or subject of questioning resulted in a biased jury or rendered his trial fundamentally unfair. Id. Rather, he made only the general claim that each question was necessary to uncover juror bias. Id. The same is true here. Moody does not show how the absence of any of the questions resulted in a jury that was not fair and impartial. ¶ 98 Ultimately, even had Moody provided a more specific argument on this point, the trial judge's invitation to counsel to ask follow-up questions mitigates any deficiency in the court's questioning. This court has consistently upheld trial courts' refusals to use jury questionnaires when counsel were provided an opportunity to voir dire potential jurors. See, e.g., Davolt, 207 Ariz. at 207, ¶ 52, 84 P.3d at 472; Canez, 202 Ariz. at 148, ¶ 37, 42 P.3d at 579. It also follows that a defendant who believes a trial court's voir dire to be deficient cannot sit on his rights and bypass the opportunity to cure the error by questioning jurors about those subjects that he feels were inadequately addressed when offered the opportunity to do so. ¶ 99 In this case the trial judge invited counsel to voir dire the panel, and he allowed counsel to ask follow-up questions to individual jurors throughout the selection process. Moody has not alleged that his opportunity for follow-up questioning was limited or restricted, and because he could have asked the questions himself that he now claims should have been asked, we find no error or abuse of discretion in the voir dire process. ¶ 100 Based on the record before us, we find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's actions, and Moody fails to demonstrate how any of the errors he alleges served to deprive him of a fair, impartial, and unbiased jury.