Opinion ID: 1868888
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Motion for Individual Sequestered Voir Dire

Text: Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his request for individual voir dire. He argues that the extensive pre-trial publicity regarding the case created special circumstances that warranted individual, sequestered voir dire and that the denial of this request impaired his constitutional right to full voir dire examination. LA. CONST. art. I, § 17. Defendant explains that the denial, inter alia, forced his trial counsel to curtail the questioning of individual venirepersons regarding their exposure to pre-trial publicity, as detailed questions and responses would have tainted the remaining venirepersons. The law neither requires nor prohibits the sequestration of venirepersons for the purpose of conducting individual voir dire. State v. Comeaux, 514 So.2d 84, 88 (La.1987). Such a determination lies within the discretion of the trial court. Generally, a defendant must show special circumstances that justify individual voir dire examination. Absent such a showing, the trial court does not err in denying defendant's request. State v. Copeland, 530 So.2d 526, 535 (La. 1988), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1091, 109 S.Ct. 1558, 103 L.Ed.2d 860 (1989); Comeaux, 514 So.2d at 88. Moreover, mere status as a capital case, in and of itself, does not constitute the requisite special circumstances. E.g., State v. Wingo, 457 So.2d 1159, 1165 (La.1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1030, 105 S.Ct. 2049, 85 L.Ed.2d 322 (1985). The defendant herein failed to sustain his burden of demonstrating such special circumstances, offering instead only vague and conclusory allegations of harm in his written motion and oral argument. Nevertheless, although the motion was denied, we note that the trial judge expressly stated that he would permit sequestered, individual voir dire on a case-by-case basis, if needed. [3] Therefore, we conclude that the trial court did not err in denying defendant's motion. The argument lacks merit.