Opinion ID: 486363
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Juror Views

Text: 15 The sixth amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees a criminal defendant the right to be tried by a panel of impartial, 'indifferent' jurors. Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 722, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 1642, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961). This standard, however, does not require that 16 the jurors be totally ignorant of the facts and issues involved. In these days of swift, widespread and diverse methods of communication, an important case can be expected to arouse the interest of the public in the vicinity, and scarcely any of those best qualified to serve as jurors will not have formed some impression or opinion as to the merits of the case. This is particularly true in criminal cases. To hold that the mere existence of any preconceived notion as to the guilt or innocence of an accused, without more, is sufficient to rebut the presumption of a prospective juror's impartiality would be to establish an impossible standard. It is sufficient if the juror can lay aside his impression or opinion and render a verdict based on the evidence presented in court. 17 Id. at 722-23, 81 S.Ct. at 1642-43; see also Patton v. Yount 467 U.S. 1025, 1037 n. 12, 104 S.Ct. 2885, 2891 n. 12, 81 L.Ed.2d 847 (1984) (the Constitution requires only that the juror can lay aside his opinion and render a verdict based on the evidence presented in court); Dobbert v. Florida, 432 U.S. 282, 303, 97 S.Ct. 2290, 2303, 53 L.Ed.2d 344 (1977) (extensive knowledge in the community of either the crimes or the putative criminal is not sufficient by itself to render a trial constitutionally unfair); id. (one who is reasonably suspected of committing a heinous crime cannot expect to remain anonymous); Murphy v. Florida, 421 U.S. 794, 800, 95 S.Ct. 2031, 2036, 44 L.Ed.2d 589 (1975) (jurors need not be totally ignorant of the facts and issues involved). As Justice Clark recognized in Rideau v. Louisiana, 373 U.S. 723, 733, 83 S.Ct. 1417, 1423, 10 L.Ed.2d 663 (1963) (Clark, J., dissenting), it is an impossible standard to require [a] tribunal to be a laboratory, completely sterilized and freed from any external factors. 18 Here, the court conducted a voir dire of nearly 200 potential jurors which lasted 17 days and is recorded in over 3,000 transcript pages. (The court had excused another 55 venire persons upon personal hardship requests.) The voir dire was conducted by the judge, in the presence of the defendants and counsel; potential jurors were summonsed individually into the courtroom and, besides the usual questions, were examined extensively as to their knowledge of the Cerro Maravilla affair and their attitude toward those involved. 5 A jury was finally selected that we must assume satisfied the district court as meeting the constitutional requirements of impartiality. 6 The trial court's determination as to the impartiality of jurors may be set aside only for manifest error. See Patton, 467 U.S. at 1031, 104 S.Ct. at 2888; Irvin, 366 U.S. at 723-24, 81 S.Ct. at 1642-44; United States v. McNeill, 728 F.2d 5 (1st Cir.1984). The special deference given to a trial court's assessment of juror impartiality derives from the fundamental role [d]emeanor plays ... not only in determining juror credibility but also in simply understanding what a potential juror is saying. Patton, 467 U.S. at 1038 & n. 14, 104 S.Ct. at 2892 & n. 14. See also Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. (8 Otto) 145, 156-57, 25 L.Ed. 244 (1879) (the manner of the juror while testifying is often times more indicative of the real character of his opinions than his words.... Care should, therefore, be taken in the reviewing court not to reverse the ruling below ... except in a clear case). 19 Our review of the voir dire testimony of the 12 jurors who sat on the case reveals no manifest error. To be sure, virtually all of the empanelled jurors testified to having been exposed to news or telecasts of the Puerto Rico Senate's hearings on the shootings. None of their voir dire testimony, however, reveals significant bias against appellants. One juror appeared to have some prior suspicion of a cover-up by the police based on the televised hearings, despite his professions of impartiality. 7 On the other hand, two jurors expressed a generalized kind of sympathy toward the defendants, 8 and one other juror expressed a generalized doubt about the tactics of the defendants' victims. 9 The voir dire testimony of the remaining jurors shows no evidence of any preconceived opinions. 10 All 12 jurors testified repeatedly on voir dire that they would base their deliberations solely on the evidence adduced at trial, and that they could impartially reach a verdict. On this record, we do not find manifest error in the district court's determination to seat the jurors as impartial, nor does the record indicate in any way that they lacked impartiality.