Opinion ID: 2649691
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Large-Group Voir Dire

Text: ¶53 After prospective jurors answered written questions, the trial court conducted voir dire in four sequestered groups of twenty-five. Forde argues that the court violated her rights to due process, a fair trial, an impartial jury, and to be free from cruel and unusual punishment by refusing to question prospective jurors individually or in sequestered groups of five. We review for an abuse of discretion. State v. Lynch, 225 Ariz. 27, 34 ¶ 22, 234 P.3d 595, 602 (2010). ¶54 The trial court has discretion to conduct voir dire individually “when the prospective juror might be embarrassed to confess his true opinion before an audience or when one juror’s statements concerning the case might color the entire jury’s outlook.” Ariz. R. Crim. P. 18.5(d), cmt. Such questioning is “most useful in cases involving massive publicity or unusually sensitive subjects,” Bible, 175 Ariz. at 570, 858 P.2d at 1173 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted), but is not required in every capital case, Lynch, 225 Ariz. at 34 ¶ 23, 234 P.3d at 602. ¶55 Forde argues that large-group voir dire impeded selection of an impartial jury because jurors could have been uncomfortable answering sensitive questions such as whether they had been crime victims. But such general questions are not so unusually sensitive that private questioning is required. Additionally, the court took steps to ensure that jurors would not be asked to reveal sensitive personal information publically. The written questionnaire addressed topics that could have embarrassed a juror if raised in a group setting, and it asked whether the juror wished to discuss anything privately. During voir dire, the court called five jurors to the bench to discuss personal information outside the hearing of other prospective jurors. 16 STATE V. FORDE Opinion of the Court ¶56 Forde also asserts that the pretrial publicity in her case, together with the Giffords shootings, required individual or small-group voir dire so jurors would answer questions candidly. We disagree. The written questionnaires extensively addressed news coverage of both cases, allowing jurors to privately answer questions about the effect of pretrial publicity. Forde does not point to any answers that triggered a need for individual or small-group voir dire. Indeed, thirteen of the sixteen members of the jury panel wrote they either had no exposure or very little exposure to news coverage of this case. ¶57 Although the court could have exercised its discretion to conduct individual or small-group voir dire, it did not abuse its discretion by not doing so.