Opinion ID: 1057594
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 27

Heading: Juror Jonathan White

Text: The Defendant argues that the trial court erred because it did not grant his motion to strike potential juror Jonathan White for cause based on Juror White's belief that life without parole was not a sufficient punishment for first degree murder. The Defendant avers that he was forced to use a peremptory strike to dismiss Juror White, which left Juror Boatwright on the panel. Juror Boatwright, the Defendant says, was incompetent to serve because, of all the prospective jurors, she was the one whose individual voir dire was the most restricted by the court, meaning the Defendant knew very little about her. The State counters that Juror White said he would weigh the mitigating circumstances and assign the death penalty only when the mitigation was not sufficient. Further, it asserts there is no evidence to support the Defendant's contention that Juror Boatwright was incompetent. The Defendant points us to the following exchange between defense counsel and Juror White, which occurred after defense counsel gave Juror White a hypothetical situation where a defendant, with an abusive childhood as well as an ongoing psychiatric disorder, is charged with murdering another person: Q: Would you be able to balance [the facts] out, or would that mean anything to you? A: I could balance that out. . . . . Q: [I]n those facts, you hear things that tend to mitigate, or tend to soften, or tend to give a reason for the behavior or conduct of the person who's on trial. A: Uh-huh (affirmative). Yes. Q: Okay. And could you carry those mitigating factors with you into the jury[]room? A: Yes, ma'am. . . . . Q: Now, [the State] touched on some other penalties which is life. And life, in Tennessee is 51 years before you could come before a board and be eligible for parole. The other, is life without the possibility of parole, which means, when they take you to the penitentiary; that's going to be the home for the rest of your life. And we've talked about the death penalty. Do you see life, 51 years in prison as a harsh punishment? A: No. Q: You don't think that's a harsh punishment? A: No. Q: What about life without the possibility of parole? Where you spend the rest of your life in a cage. A: No. Q: You don't think that's an adequate punishment? A: No. Q: So, given any of the specific set of circumstances, your inclination would be, if certain factors are met and you don't feel the mitigation is sufficient, that the only option for the punishment would be death? A: Yes. In response to the State's voir dire, the following exchange took place between the prosecuting attorney and Juror White: Q [the State]: Now, if we get to ... the punishment stage of the trial, if you found him guilty of first degree murder, the judge will tell you [there are] three possible punishments that you can consider. There's life in prison[], which in Tennessee, is 51 years before you're eligible for parole. Life without parole, which is just what it says, you can never be paroled. Or the death penalty. Do you think you would be able to fairly, and impartially, consider all three punishments? A [Juror White]: Yes, sir. As previously stated, both the United States and Tennessee Constitutions guarantee a criminal defendant to the right to a trial by an impartial jury. See U.S. Const. amend. VI; Tenn. Const. art. I, § 9. To that end, parties in civil and criminal cases are granted an absolute right to examine prospective jurors in an effort to determine that they are competent. See T.C.A. § 22-3-101 (2003). The proper standard for determining when a prospective juror may be excluded for cause because of his or her views on capital punishment ... is whether the juror's views would `prevent or substantially impair the performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his oath.' Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 424, 105 S.Ct. 844, 83 L.Ed.2d 841 (1985) (quoting Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38, 45, 100 S.Ct. 2521, 65 L.Ed.2d 581 (1980)); State v. Reid, 213 S.W.3d 792, 835-36 (Tenn.2006). [T]his standard ... does not require that a juror's biases be proved with `unmistakable clarity.' Id. Instead, the trial court must have the definite impression that the prospective juror cannot follow the law. State v. Hutchison, 898 S.W.2d 161, 167 (Tenn. 1994) (citing Wainwright, 469 U.S. at 425-26, 105 S.Ct. 844). Irrespective of whether the trial judge should have excluded the challenged jurors for cause, any possible error is harmless unless the jury who actually heard the case was not fair and impartial. State v. Howell, 868 S.W.2d 238, 248 (Tenn.1993); State v. Thompson, 768 S.W.2d 239, 246 (Tenn.1989). The failure to correctly excuse a juror for cause is grounds for reversal only if the defendant exhausts all of his peremptory challenges and an incompetent juror is forced upon him. Ross v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 81, 89, 108 S.Ct. 2273, 101 L.Ed.2d 80 (1988); State v. Jones, 789 S.W.2d 545, 549 (Tenn. 1990). Finally, the trial court's finding of bias of a juror because of his or her views concerning the death penalty are accorded a presumption of correctness, and the defendant must establish by convincing evidence that the trial court's determination was erroneous before an appellate court will overturn that decision. Reid, 213 S.W.3d at 836 Initially, we note that we do not agree with the Defendant's characterization of Juror Boatwright as incompetent. The fact that defense counsel knew little about her is insufficient to establish her incompetence, in part because defense counsel had time to conduct a complete voir dire of Juror Boatwright. There is simply no evidence in the record to find that Juror Boatwright was in any way incompetent. Accordingly, the Defendant has not proven that his jury was not fair and impartial and any error in the trial court's failure to excuse Juror White would, therefore, be considered harmless. Nevertheless, we turn to consider whether the trial court should have excused Juror White for cause. After reviewing the answers and responses of Juror White, we conclude that the trial court did not err by failing to remove Juror White for cause. Juror White confirmed that he would weigh the various enhancement and mitigating factors and determine the appropriate punishment. While Juror White said that he did not think that life without the possibility of parole was an adequate punishment for committing murder, he also said that he could fairly and impartially consider all three punishments: life with the possibility of parole; life without the possibility of parole; and a sentence of death. The Defendant has not established by convincing evidence that the trial court's determination was erroneous, and he is, therefore, not entitled to relief on this issue.