Opinion ID: 867372
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ability to Conduct Voir Dire

Text: ¶ 6 Pandeli claims that the trial court's failure to rule before trial on the scope of the State's penalty phase rebuttal hindered his ability to conduct voir dire because he did not know whether to question jurors about their feelings regarding serial killers. Before trial, the State asked to introduce the facts of Teresa Humphreys' murder in rebuttal to Pandeli's proffered mitigation evidence to demonstrate that Pandeli should not be shown leniency. The trial court deferred ruling on the motion until after the defense presented its mitigation evidence to allow the court to assess whether the Humphreys murder evidence would be relevant. ¶ 7 At the oral argument on the motion, Pandeli did not argue that the court's failure to rule would hinder his ability to conduct voir dire; he first made that argument in his motion for a new trial, filed after he had been sentenced to death. Because Pandeli did not object on these grounds at trial, we review for fundamental error. State v. Henderson, 210 Ariz. 561, 567, ¶ 19, 115 P.3d 601, 607 (2005). To satisfy the fundamental error standard, a defendant must demonstrate not only error going to the foundation of the case, but also that the error caused him prejudice. Id. at ¶¶ 19-20, 115 P.3d 601. ¶ 8 We conclude that the judge's delay in ruling did not deprive Pandeli of the ability to conduct voir dire. There was no error, much less fundamental error. Despite the trial court's decision not to rule immediately on the State's motion, the defense had the opportunity to question the prospective jurors about their feelings toward serial killers. The prospective jurors were informed that Pandeli had previously been convicted of another murder and were asked in the Jury Selection Questionnaire whether they thought the death penalty was appropriate for serial murderers. Defense counsel then had the opportunity to follow up on this issue. Several prospective jurors were questioned about their beliefs regarding serial killers. ¶ 9 Moreover, Pandeli has not identified any questions he wanted to ask but was denied permission to ask. And, generally, any overly specific questions would not have been allowed. A defendant does not have the right to commit [prospective jurors] to certain positions prior to receiving the evidence. State v. Melendez, 121 Ariz. 1, 3, 588 P.2d 294, 296 (1978); cf. State v. Smith, 215 Ariz. 221, ___, ¶ 42, 159 P.3d 531, 541 (2007) (holding that a trial court need not permit a defendant to question jurors about their assessment of specific aggravating factors). ¶ 10 Finally, to the extent that Pandeli complains about the voir dire of prospective jurors 29, 42, and 77, those individuals were dismissed and did not sit on the jury; therefore, Pandeli cannot show any prejudice stemming from his inability to question these jurors. See State v. Glassel, 211 Ariz. 33, 46-47, ¶ 41, 116 P.3d 1193, 1206-07 (2005), cert. denied, 547 U.S. 1024, 126 S.Ct. 1576, 164 L.Ed.2d 308 (2006). In sum, Pandeli has not shown that his ability to conduct voir dire was hindered by the trial court's delay in ruling or that he did not have a fair and impartial jury.