Opinion ID: 1807431
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Opinion Poll

Text: To provide support for his first motion for change of venue, Boppre requested that the district court authorize the payment of $6,000 to hire a professional pollster to survey prospective jurors in Scotts Bluff County as to whether pretrial publicity would impair Boppre's ability to receive a fair trial. Boppre's attorney filed an affidavit stating that neither Boppre nor his family had the financial means to pay for the survey. At the hearing on the request for survey funding, Boppre and his father concurred that they did not have the financial means to pay. The district court denied Boppre's request, deciding to wait until voir dire began to determine whether Boppre could receive a fair trial. Boppre urges that the district court erred in refusing his request, arguing that under Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963), due process and the sixth amendment right to effective assistance of counsel require that the State provide the defendant with the use of any experts that will assist counsel in preparing the defense and that the survey would have been extremely helpful to the trial court in determining whether or not defendant's motion for change of venue is well taken. Brief for appellant at 14. Boppre cites us to no Nebraska case on this subject, nor do we find any. In State v. Watson, 310 N.C. 384, 312 S.E.2d 448 (1984), where the defendant requested State funds to conduct a survey similar to that Boppre requested, the Supreme Court of North Carolina recognized that an indigent defendant has the right to the effective assistance of counsel and that the State must provide an indigent defendant with the basic tools for preparation of an adequate defense. However, the court determined that expert assistance need only be provided by the State when the defendant can show it is probable he will not receive a fair trial without the expert assistance or upon a showing that there is a reasonable likelihood the assistance will materially assist the defendant in the preparation of his defense. The court concluded that because the defendant had an opportunity to assemble available data on pretrial publicity and to question jurors about their exposure to the publicity and its effect, and because the poll could not demonstrate the amount of bias or whether publicity was noted by individuals who might serve as jurors, the lower court did not abuse its discretion in determining that the defendant had failed to show there was a reasonable likelihood the poll would have materially assisted him in the preparation of his defense. Similarly, in State v. Weatherford, 416 N.W.2d 47 (S.D.1987), the Supreme Court of South Dakota considered whether the trial court erred in refusing to appoint an expert to conduct a public opinion poll for purposes of a venue motion because of the pretrial publicity in a first degree murder case. In determining that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant's request, the reviewing court held that voir dire examination is the better forum for ascertaining the existence of community and individual prejudice or hostility toward the accused. See, also, Wyle v. State, 777 S.W.2d 709 (Tex.Crim.App.1989) (pollster to show level of community prejudice for purposes of venue motion was unnecessary, as defendant may offer newspaper accounts, evidence of television or radio coverage, and witnesses from the community); Wilson v. State, 250 Ga. 630, 300 S.E.2d 640 (1983), cert. denied 464 U.S. 865, 104 S.Ct. 199, 78 L.Ed.2d 174, reh'g denied 464 U.S. 1004, 104 S.Ct. 514, 78 L.Ed.2d 701; State v. Haislip, 237 Kan. 461, 484-85, 701 P.2d 909, 927 (1985), cert. denied 474 U.S. 1022, 106 S.Ct. 575, 88 L.Ed.2d 558 (motion to obtain funds for public opinion poll for purposes of venue motion properly denied where cost of survey was $2,000 and because random sample of the population would not reliably indicate whether a fair and impartial jury could be selected); State v. Greenawalt, 128 Ariz. 150, 624 P.2d 828 (1981), cert. denied 454 U.S. 882, 102 S.Ct. 364, 70 L.Ed.2d 191 (refusal pursuant to state statute to appoint for indigent defendant an expert to conduct public opinion poll in order to determine for purposes of venue motion the extent pretrial publicity has permeated the community was proper because jury selection and venue are not matters having a bearing on the ultimate question of the defendant's guilt or innocence and thus were not contemplated by state statute's requirement that expert be necessary to the presentation of the defense at trial); Annot., 74 A.L.R.4th 330 (1989). The refusal of a trial court to grant a motion for a public opinion poll rests within the court's discretion. See State v. Weatherford, supra . See, also, State v. Gagliano, 231 Neb. 911, 438 N.W.2d 783 (1989) (the right of an indigent defendant to the appointment of an expert witness at State expense generally rests in the discretion of the trial court). Assuming, but not deciding, that there are circumstances under which it would be an abuse of discretion to deny an indigent defendant funds to conduct a public opinion poll, we conclude that in this case the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Boppre's motion for such. As suggested in State v. Weatherford, supra , voir dire examination is the better, more probative forum for ascertaining the existence of community and individual prejudice or hostility toward the accused. Boppre had the opportunity to thoroughly question the venirepersons concerning their ability to be impartial. Further, Boppre had an opportunity to assemble a variety of data on the pretrial publicity, including newspaper articles, radio and television reports, and the affidavits of various people in the community. The poll was not necessary to Boppre's presentation of evidence in support of his motion for change of venue.