Opinion ID: 1690710
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the trial court erred in failing to excuse for cause juror susan honeycutt, in violation of mississippi law and the united states and mississippi constitutions.

Text: ś 52. Doss alleges that the trial court's denial of his challenge for cause request against juror Susan Honeycutt (hereinafter Honeycutt) constitutes reversible error because of her familial relationship with the prosecuting assistant district attorney, Kevin Horan (hereinafter Horan). Honeycutt came forward during voir dire when the court asked if anyone was related by blood or marriage to either the defendant's counsel or the attorneys for the State. She told the court that her father and Horan's mother were first cousins. When asked of her relationship with Horan, she responded that she had not seen Horan since they were children. When asked if her relationship with Horan would make any difference or pose any problem, Honeycutt responded, I don't know as it would. ś 53. Defense counsel, Horan, and the trial judge, subsequently met in chambers to conduct the parties' challenges. The State tendered its list for cause. The defense then tendered its list of challenges for cause which sought to strike Honeycutt. The defense's request was denied once the trial judge discovered that Horan had not seen Honeycutt in the year and a half that he lived there, finding that there was not a strong relationship which might interfere with Honeycutt's judgment. ś 54. Peremptories began and the defense used its twelfth peremptory on juror # 44. Honeycutt was juror # 45. The defense did not ask for additional peremptories and eventually Honeycutt sat on Doss's jury. ś 55. Doss asserts that Honeycutt's response to the question of whether her familial relationship with Horan would affect her judgment indicated a lack of impartiality and bias in violation of Billiot v. State, 454 So.2d 445, 457 (Miss. 1984) and more recently Chase v. State, 645 So.2d 829, 844 (Miss. 1994). The State asserts that such a response does not indicate bias or inability to be impartial. Additionally, citing Mettetal v. State, 615 So.2d 600, 603 (Miss. 1993), the State contends that Doss has failed to illustrate the requirement that the defendant had an incompetent juror in his jury because of an erroneous ruling by the trial judge in failing to strike a juror that should have been stricken. See also, Chisolm v. State, 529 So.2d 635, 639 (Miss. 1988). ś 56. With regard to the parties' arguments, this Court Stated in Woodward v. State, 533 So.2d 418, 424 (Miss. 1988) that: Generally, a juror removed on a challenge for cause is one against whom a cause for challenge exists that would likely affect his competency or his impartiality at trial. Billiot v. State, 454 So.2d 445, 457 (Miss. 1984). Under Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 105 S.Ct. 844, 83 L.Ed.2d 841 (1985), the U.S. Supreme Court held that deference must be paid to the trial judge who sees and hears the juror and that the trial judge's determination that a juror is biased will not be reversed where it is supported by the record. It is well founded that the trial judge has the discretion to excuse potential jurors for cause if the court believes the juror could not try the case impartially. Burt v. State, 493 So.2d 1325, 1327 (Miss. 1986). This Court will not lightly interfere with a finding of fact made by the trial judge in a criminal case, and it will reverse only when it is satisfied that the trial court has erred in holding a juror competent, when this Court is clearly of the opinion that he was not a competent juror. Dennis v. State, 91 Miss. 221, 44 So. 825 (1907). See also Norris v. State, 490 So.2d 839 (Miss. 1986); Weaver v. State, 497 So.2d 1089, 1094 (Miss. 1986) (a physical disability, such as deafness, is sufficient to support a challenge for cause). ś 57. At best, Honeycutt had a distant relationship with Horan. She had not seen him in the year and a half that he had lived there and they were not currently involved in any manner with one another. Additionally, they had not had a relationship since they were small children. When asked of her ability to be impartial to sit in judgment of Doss unaffected by her distant familial relation with Horan, she did not evidence any information to warrant her removal for cause. Therefore, the trial judge's denial of Doss's request for a cause strike against Honeycutt was not an abuse of discretion in this case. ś 58. The Court finds that the trial judge in this case did not abuse his discretion regarding this issue. The trial judge conducted the requisite inquiry for determining Honeycutt's competency and found that she appeared to be able to sit in judgment unaffected by her familial relationship and correctly apply the law. We find that although it may have made for a cleaner trial to have excused Honeycutt from the jury, the facts support the trial judge's decision. Accordingly, this issue lacks merit.