Opinion ID: 2623326
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to administer oath to prospective jurors

Text: In a hearing held on September 25, 1990, outside the presence of prospective jurors, the trial court asked counsel whether the prospective jurors should have taken the jurors' oath under Code of Civil Procedure section 232 before answering the written questionnaires about their views on the death penalty and other matters. The court noted that the prospective jurors had taken this oath in the court's presence before answering any questions orally, and that each prospective juror had signed the questionnaire under penalty of perjury. The court observed, however, that the opening paragraph on the questionnaire incorrectly stated that the jurors had been sworn by the court clerk. The prosecutor saw no problem in the failure to administer the oath for the questionnaires because he considered the questionnaires simply a guide in porally questioning the jurors. Defense counsel too saw no error in the procedures that had been followed. The trial court then ordered the questioning of prospective jurors to resume. Defendant contends the trial court's failure to follow the proper procedures for administering the oath to prospective jurors as required by Code of Civil Procedure section 232 violated his federal constitutional rights under the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Code of Civil Procedure section 232 requires a specified oath to be administered to prospective jurors before examination. [2] Respondent counters that it is questionable whether having prospective jurors fill out questionnaires is an examination within the meaning of Code of Civil Procedure section 232. There is no decision addressing the latter point directly, but the language of Code of Civil Procedure section 232 suggests respondent's proposed reading of the statutory command is too narrow. The oath administered under Code of Civil Procedure section 232 requires prospective jurors to agree to accurately and truthfully answer `all questions ... concerning [their] qualifications and competency.' (Code Civ. Proc., ง 232, subd. (a).) Moreover, our recent decisions describing the judicial practice of conducting voir dire in a capital case by having prospective jurors give written answers to a jury questionnaire imply that a juror questionnaire is part of the examination for purposes of Code of Civil Procedure section 232. (See People v. Waidla (2000) 22 Cal.4th 690, 713-714, 94 Cal.Rptr.2d 396, 996 P.2d 46 [no error in trial court's denial of defense request to conduct voir dire of prospective jurors where prospective jurors had answered 25-page questionnaire under penalty of perjury]; People v. Earp (1999) 20 Cal.4th 826, 851-855, 85 Cal.Rptr.2d 857, 978 P.2d 15 [trial court's voir dire procedure did not violate constitutional commands].) Although defendant is correct that prospective jurors should have been sworn under Code of Civil Procedure section 232 before filling out their questionnaires, he fails to establish that he was prejudiced by the trial court's failure to administer the oath at that juncture. (See United States v. Martin (6th Cir.1984) 740 F.2d 1352, 1358 [error in failing to administer oath to jury until after government had presented case-in-chief harmless where defendant failed to show any prejudice by delay and no objection was made]; Cooper v. Campbell (8th Cir.1979) 597 F.2d 628, 629 [no evidence that delay in swearing in jury prejudiced defendant's right to jury trial, fair trial, or due process].) Here, the prospective jurors signed their questionnaires under penalty of perjury and were sworn under Code of Civil Procedure section 232 before being personally questioned in open court. Defendant does not assert, nor does the record suggest, that the prospective jurors took their obligation to truthfully answer the questions posed to them on paper any less seriously than their duty to do so during oral questioning by the trial court and counsel. Nor does anything else in the record suggest the voir dire examination was inadequate. (See People v. Earp, supra, 20 Cal.4th at p. 852, 85 Cal.Rptr.2d 857, 978 P.2d 15; Rosales-Lopez v. United States (1981) 451 U.S. 182, 188, 101 S.Ct. 1629, 68 L.Ed.2d 22.) Defendant contends that by failing to ascertain that the prospective jurors had been properly sworn before filling out their questionnaires, his trial counsel provided constitutionally deficient representation. Because defendant fails to show he was prejudiced by the jury selection procedures in his case, however, he cannot establish a violation of his Sixth Amendment rights.