Opinion ID: 2534150
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Death Qualification of Juror

Text: Miller first maintains that the trial court committed reversible error in excusing juror 407 for cause after the juror indicated that he could not impose the death penalty for a capital offense which did not involve genocide or mass murder. After reviewing the responses of juror 407 during voir dire, we conclude that the trial court acted within its discretion in excusing the juror for cause. A potential juror may be excused for cause if the juror has a state of mind regarding ... the case ... that will prevent the juror from acting with impartiality. § 913.03(10), Fla. Stat. (2006). The United States Supreme Court articulated the standard for determining when a prospective juror may be excused for cause because of personal views on capital punishment as whether the juror's views would `prevent or substantially impair the performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his oath.' Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 424, 105 S.Ct. 844, 83 L.Ed.2d 841 (1985) (quoting Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38, 45, 100 S.Ct. 2521, 65 L.Ed.2d 581 (1980)). In a capital proceeding, a juror is unqualified based on personal views if the juror expresses an unyielding conviction and rigidity toward the death penalty. See Barnhill v. State, 834 So.2d 836, 844 (Fla.2002) (citing Farina v. State, 680 So.2d 392 (Fla. 1996)). However, there is no requirement that a court find a juror qualified if he  might vote for death under certain personal standards. Witt, 469 U.S. at 422, 105 S.Ct. 844. It is within the province of the trial court to determine whether a challenge for cause is proper. Therefore, this Court gives deference to a trial court's determination of a prospective juror's competency and will not overturn that determination absent manifest error. See Fernandez v. State, 730 So.2d 277, 281 (Fla.1999) (citing Mendoza v. State, 700 So.2d 670, 675 (Fla. 1997)); Castro v. State, 644 So.2d 987, 989 (Fla.1994) (citing Witt, 469 U.S. at 426, 105 S.Ct. 844) (applying abuse of discretion standard to juror qualification challenges). Viewing the entire context of the voir dire, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excusing the prospective juror. The juror was properly excused for cause in accordance with the standards articulated by the United States Supreme Court in Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968), because the juror demonstrated that he would vote against the death penalty regardless of the facts presented or instructions given. See, e.g., Jackson v. State, 366 So.2d 752, 755 (Fla.1978) (discussing application of Witherspoon standards in Florida). As directed in Williams v. State, 228 So.2d 377 (Fla. 1969): The most that can be demanded of a venireman ... is that he be willing to consider all of the penalties provided by state law.... [ Witherspoon, ] 391 U.S. at 522[, 88 S.Ct. 1770]. If, upon questioning, the prospective juror says he doesn't know whether he can vote for conviction if it might mean the electric chair, then the State cannot determine his willingness to consider all penalties, nor can it determine whether or not the venireman's attitude toward the death penalty would prevent him from making an impartial decision as to guilt. Id. at 381. Furthermore, it is proper to exclude prospective jurors who state that their reservations about capital punishment would prevent them from making an impartial decision as to the defendant's guilt .... (or) who say that they could never vote to impose the death penalty or that they would refuse even to consider its imposition in the case before them. Witt v. State, 342 So.2d 497, 499 (Fla.1977) (quoting Witherspoon, 391 U.S. at 513-14, 88 S.Ct. 1770). Upon first being questioned with regard to the death penalty, juror 407 revealed that he did not believe in it. When further asked if he could consider the imposition of the death penalty, juror 407 answered, [I]t would be hard for me to do that. He next responded that even if the facts and circumstances of the case under the law would warrant a sentence of death, it would be very difficult for [him] to do that, and that he did not think he could impose the death penalty. He further stated that he could not envision any circumstances under which he could vote to impose a sentence of death. In response to the trial court's inquiry whether he could consider both punishments equally and follow the law instead of his own personal opinion in making a recommendation, juror 407 stated, I really don't think I could vote for the death penalty. These statements express an unyielding conviction and rigidity toward the death penalty that would substantially impair the performance of the juror's duties in accordance with the court's instructions and the juror's oath. See Barnhill, 834 So.2d at 844; Hertz v. State, 803 So.2d 629, 638 (Fla.2001). The statements of this juror that he could envision the death penalty in circumstances involving mass murder or genocide did not alter the unyielding conviction he expressed toward capital punishment. It is clear that while he might support a death sentence in the very limited circumstance of genocide or mass murder, he would not vote to impose the death penalty for any other type of murder. In Conde v. State, 860 So.2d 930 (Fla.2003), we upheld the decision of the trial court to excuse a juror for cause where the juror initially stated that she did not support the death penalty and repeatedly expressed significant doubt as to whether she would ever be able to recommend the death penalty even though she later said that she might consider the death penalty after defense counsel provided extreme examples, such as the torture and mutilation of a small child. See id. at 942-43; see also Morrison v. State, 818 So.2d 432, 442 (Fla.2002) (affirming excusal of juror who stated he was not sure he could follow the law and impose the death penalty but expressed a belief in capital punishment in the limited circumstance when a person was in my home, [and] killed my children); Hartley v. State, 686 So.2d 1316, 1322 (Fla.1996) (affirming for cause challenge where juror stated that there were very few, if any, situations in which he would recommend the death penalty). Similar to Conde, Morrison, and Hartley, the answers of juror 407 here indicated that his overall views on capital punishment would prevent or substantially impair the performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his oath. Witt, 342 So.2d at 499. In this case, the prospective juror made it clear that his personal beliefs would prevent him from impartially following the law. Therefore, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excusing the juror for cause because the statements of the juror constituted sufficient justification for this decision.