Opinion ID: 1058958
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Failure to Object to Jury Pool Size and Failure to Demand an Additional Peremptory Strike

Text: The trial court seated a panel of 14 jurors, including two alternate jurors, from a qualified panel of 22 venirepersons. Under Code § 19.2-262(B), a panel of 20 qualified members is required in order to seat a jury of 12 persons. Pursuant to Code § 8.01-360, when a court desires to seat two or more additional jurors ... there shall be drawn twice as many venireman as the number of additional jurors desired. The ... Commonwealth and accused in a criminal case shall each be allowed one additional peremptory challenge for every two additional jurors. In claim III(B), Morrisette alleges he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because counsel failed to object to the trial court's qualification of a jury panel consisting of less than 24 venirepersons and further failed to demand an additional peremptory strike to which Morrisette alleges he was entitled by law. Morrisette claims that the court's errors were structural and that prejudice is therefore presumed. A structural error is a defect affecting the framework within which the trial proceeds, rather than simply an error in the trial process itself. Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 310, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991); see Emmett v. Warden, 269 Va. 164, 168, 609 S.E.2d 602, 605 (2005). As such, it is the constitutional magnitude of the error that defies harmless error review. Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 8, 119 S.Ct. 1827, 144 L.Ed.2d 35 (1999). Examples of errors which affect the framework of a trial include the denial of a public trial, the denial of counsel, the denial of an impartial trial judge, the systematic exclusion of members of the defendant's race from the grand jury, the infringement upon a defendant's right to represent himself, and the improper instruction to a jury as to reasonable doubt and the burden of proof. See Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 466-67, 117 S.Ct. 1544, 137 L.Ed.2d 718 (1997) (discussion of limited class of cases in which structural error found); Green v. Young, 264 Va. 604, 611-12, 571 S.E.2d 135, 140 (2002) (holding an instruction stating the jury shall find the defendant guilty if the Commonwealth failed to prove each element beyond a reasonable doubt to be structural error). In Ross v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 81, 88-91, 108 S.Ct. 2273, 101 L.Ed.2d 80 (1988), the United States Supreme Court held that, although a trial court had erred in failing to dismiss a potential juror for cause, the error was harmless because the defendant was able to use a peremptory challenge to rectify the error. The Court noted that the Sixth Amendment requires that an impartial jury be seated, but recognized that peremptory challenges are not of constitutional dimension because they are a means to achieving the constitutionally required impartial jury. Id. at 88, 108 S.Ct. 2273. The Court held that, although the trial court's error required Ross to use one of his peremptory challenges to ensure an impartial jury was seated, Ross was not deprived of an impartial jury or of any interest provided by the state. Id. at 91, 108 S.Ct. 2273. Thus, the Court holds that the loss of a peremptory challenge is not a structural error. In asserting claim III(B), Morrisette relies solely on his argument that prejudice should be presumed. Morrisette has not attempted to demonstrate that the resulting jury was impartial. Thus, the Court further holds that Morrisette has failed to demonstrate a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's failure to object to the trial court's qualification of a panel of 22 jurors and counsel's failure to demand a fifth peremptory strike, the outcome of the proceeding would have been different. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052.