Opinion ID: 2081007
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Deletion of Three Questions from Defendant's Tendered Jury Questionnaire

Text: Conner argues that the trial court erred in deleting three questions from his tendered jury questionnaire which the trial court submitted to the jurors to be completed prior to conducting voir dire examination. These questions addressed the prospective jurors' attitudes toward the role and responsibility of judges, prosecutors and defense counsel; the jurors' beliefs as to the most important institutions in our society; and, the prospective jurors' attitudes toward the law that defendants are accorded many constitutional rights. Conner asserts that these matters are most critical to determining the jurors' attitudes about the death penalty. He does not argue, however, that defense counsel did not fully explore prospective jurors' attitudes toward the death penalty. In fact, the record clearly shows that counsel conducted a lengthy and complete voir dire examination of all potential jurors and received direct and straightforward responses. The trial court has broad discretionary power to regulate the form and substance of voir dire. We will reverse only upon a showing of a manifest abuse of such discretion and a denial of a fair trial to a defendant. Games v. State (1989), Ind., 535 N.E.2d 530, 538, cert. denied (1989), 493 U.S. 874, 110 S.Ct. 205, 107 L.Ed.2d 158. No such showing has been made in the instant case and a review of the record fails to show a denial of a fair trial to Conner.