Opinion ID: 1224760
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: defense counsel's failure to conduct an adequate voir dire denied [appellant] his right to effective assistance of counsel.

Text: Through voir dire, a defendant may question the prospective jurors to determine whether they have biases or prejudices which would infringe on his right to have a fair trial. Miller v. State, 904 P.2d 344, 352 (Wyo.1995). Voir dire is intended to allow parties to determine whether any juror may be challenged for cause. See Frias, 722 P.2d at 139-40. Jurors may be dismissed for cause only upon a `provable and legally cognizable basis of partiality.' Schwenke v. State, 768 P.2d 1031, 1034 (Wyo.1989) (quoting Engberg v. State, 686 P.2d 541, 549 n. 6 (Wyo.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1077, 105 S.Ct. 577, 83 L.Ed.2d 516 (1984)). See also WYO. STAT. § 7-11-105(a) (1995). Because voir dire questioning techniques are diverse, any alleged voir dire error must be egregious and obvious in order to fall below the line of competence. Arner v. State, 872 P.2d 100, 105 (Wyo.1994). In this case, the trial judge asked the members of the jury panel to introduce themselves. After the jurors had finished introducing themselves, the State's attorney questioned the panel. When it was his turn to examine the jury panel, Appellant's attorney acknowledged that the prosecution had already covered many of the questions that he had planned to ask, but he went on to address several questions to the jurors. Appellant points to one instance where he believes that a challenge for cause was warranted. In that instance, the prospective juror stated that he associated with police officers because he was studying police science and that he considered police officers to be very loyal, trustworthy people. That juror went on to state, however, that he was not biased. Consequently, no basis existed for Appellant's attorney to challenge him for cause. Appellant's attorney did, however, use one of his peremptory challenges to disqualify the juror. The remainder of the answers to the questions did not suggest that the prospective jurors were biased and did not trigger the need for further questioning. Although his attorney's questioning of the jurors on voir dire was not extensive, it, coupled with the introductions and the State's questions, was sufficient for the attorney to utilize his peremptory challenges. Appellant has, therefore, failed to demonstrate that his attorney's performance in conducting voir dire was deficient or that he was prejudiced by his attorney's method of conducting voir dire. See Arner, 872 P.2d at 104-05.