Opinion ID: 1846967
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 20

Heading: Overruling of Motion to Strike Juror for Cause

Text: One of the members of the venire was a parole officer employed by the State of Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Daly moved to strike the parole officer for cause, taking the position that because he was employed by the State of Nebraska, he was an employee of a party to the case. The county court overruled the motion, and Daly exercised a peremptory strike to prevent the parole officer from serving on the jury. Daly argues that the potential juror should have been stricken for cause, relying on the Court of Appeals' holding in Kusek v. Burlington Northern RR. Co. [68] that employees of a party are ineligible to serve on a jury in a case involving their employer. We question whether the principle stated in Kusek extends to this situation, in which the parole officer was employed by the State's Department of Correctional Services, while Daly was prosecuted by the office of the Lancaster County Attorney. But more importantly, Daly has failed to show that he was prejudiced by the court's denial of his motion. It is well settled that even the erroneous overruling of a challenge for cause will not warrant reversal unless it is shown on appeal that an objectionable juror was forced upon the challenging party and sat upon the jury after the party exhausted his or her peremptory challenges. [69] We will not reverse a conviction based on a challenge to a potential juror if that person was not ultimately included on the jury, even if the defendant was required to use a peremptory challenge to remove the person. [70] Here, Daly argues only that the parole officer should have been stricken for cause. The parole officer did not sit on the jury, and Daly does not argue that any juror who actually sat on the panel was objectionable. In other words, Daly does not argue that the jury was not impartial. The true object of challenges, either peremptory or for cause, is to enable the parties to avoid disqualified persons and secure an impartial jury. When that end is accomplished, there can be no just ground for complaint against the rulings of the court as to the competency of the jurors. [71] Daly's complaint in this case is, therefore, without merit.