Opinion ID: 2332089
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Challenge to the Jury

Text: Before trial the veniremen were questioned as a group concerning their acquaintance with the defendant. Three members of the panel said they had seen the defendant at the Bangor Mental Health Institute (BMHI). The trial justice wisely recognized that continued questioning of these three in the presence of the entire panel might lead to a general airing of prejudicial information. He refused to grant a defense motion to strike the entire panel and instead conducted further voir dire separately of each of the three individuals who had identified the defendant with BMHI. One potential juror, Mrs. Sanders, who worked at the BMHI, said she had never talked with the defendant, did not know him, and was not aware of what his psychiatric condition was. The entire extent of her knowledge of the defendant, she said, was that she had seen him at the Institute. She testified she would not be influenced in any way in reaching an impartial verdict. Defense counsel moved to excuse Mrs. Sanders for cause and the prosecution objected. The court denied the motion, noting that The mere fact that she is an employee of the Bangor Mental Health Institute, would not in and of itself disqualify her unless it could be connected with the Defendant. The other two veniremen questioned indicated that although they knew nothing of the defendant's mental condition, they were personally acquainted with him, and they preferred not to sit on the jury. Both were excused for cause. All three veniremen were questioned as to whether they had discussed the defendant's hospitalization with other members of the jury panel. One indicated she had made a remark, overheard by Mrs. Bartlett, that she did not expect to end up sitting on the jury. Mrs. Bartlett was then questioned, and she answered that this comment in no way affected her ability to render an impartial verdict. A defense motion to excuse Mrs. Bartlett for cause was denied. The trial justice conducted further questioning of all the prospective jurors. Five indicated they had inferred that the defendant had been at one time a patient at BMHI. All, however, said they were in no way affected by this knowledge. Defense counsel renewed his motion to strike the entire panel, but the motion was again denied. The jury was impaneled. The defendant used all his peremptory challenges, but two persons who had admitted they believed the defendant was a former BMHI patient were seated on the jury. On appeal defendant argues that he was entitled to have a trial jury composed of persons who did not know of his status as a former patient at BMHI. He argues this knowledge was per se prejudicial, regardless of the fact that the jurors testified it did not influence them, and that consequently his constitutional right to an impartial jury was violated. The right to an impartial jury is guaranteed all criminal defendants by the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and by Article I, section 6 of our own Constitution of Maine. Christian v. State, Me., 268 A.2d 620, 623 (1970). In the alternative, defendant Thibeault maintains that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to grant his challenges for cause with respect to the jurors who admitted they believed Thibeault had once been in a mental hospital. Whether a fact brought out on voir dire requires a new trial depends on whether the fact has such high potential for ineradicable prejudicial impact upon those who ultimately become jurors as to deny to the defendant a fundamentally fair trial. State v. Gordon, Me., 321 A.2d 352, 368 (1974). We cannot accept the view that the mere fact that a defendant has undergone treatment at a mental hospital will always have such an ineradicable prejudicial impact. [3] We recognize that when jurors learn that a defendant has been previously arrested or convicted of a criminal offense, notwithstanding their assertions that they can still be impartial, justice requires that these jurors be excused if evidence of the prior conviction would not be admissible at trial. See Marshall v. United States, 360 U.S. 310, 79 S.Ct. 1171, 3 L.Ed.2d 1250 (1959). But this case does not involve knowledge of a defendant's prior criminal record or anything that rises to a comparable level of inherent prejudice. There is no direct nexus between mental hospitalization and alleged criminal activity that parallels the relationship between a past conviction and a current criminal accusation. The jurors in this case, at most, knew only that the defendant had once been in a mental hospital. They were not familiar with his treatment, diagnosis, or with his psychiatric problem which required hospitalization. Our holding today is confined to the narrow set of facts before us. We are unable to discern even the most tenuous link between mere mental patient status and the offense of receiving stolen property. A century ago the United States Supreme Court said of juror challenges for cause: The affirmative of the issue is upon the challenger. Unless he shows the actual existence of such an opinion in the mind of the juror as will raise the presumption of partiality, the juror need not necessarily be set aside . . . . Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145, 157, 25 L.Ed. 244 (1878), quoted with approval in Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 723, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961). The determination of existence of prejudice is for the trial court to make. `The finding of the trial court upon that issue . . ought not be set aside by a reviewing court, unless the error is manifest'. Id. at 723, 81 S.Ct. at 1643. Very recently, in a case involving a mistrial granted due to defense counsel's improper remarks to the jury, the United States Supreme Court observed: There are compelling institutional consideration militating in favor of appellate deference to the trial judge's evaluation of the significance of possible juror bias. He has seen and heard the jurors during their voir dire examination. He is the judge most familiar with the evidence and the background of the case on trial. He has listened to the tone of the argument as it was delivered and has observed the apparent reaction of the jurors. In short, he is far more `conversant with the factors relevant to the determination' that any reviewing court can possibly be. Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 513, 98 S.Ct. 824, 834, 54 L.Ed.2d 717, 733 (1978). In the instant case the trial justice undertook a painstaking and conscientious examination of the veniremen in a search for any prejudicial effect and in fact excused two veniremen for cause. We must accord the highest degree of respect to the trial judge's evaluation of the likelihood that the impartiality of one or more jurors may have been affected. Id. 434 U.S. at 511, 98 S.Ct. at 833, 54 L.Ed.2d at 732. Another trial justice might well have concluded that the safer course was to dismiss the entire panel. But we cannot hold that the failure to do so was an abuse of discretion. Given the exhaustive voir dire inquiry conducted by the trial court, we are confident that the defendant's right to a fair and impartial jury was fully respected.