Opinion ID: 1330634
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Challenge to Witherspoon.

Text: In Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 522, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 1777, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968), the United States Supreme Court held that jurors may not constitutionally be excluded for cause simply because they voiced general objections to the death penalty or expressed conscientious or religious scruples against its infliction. We have construed this language to require, as a prerequisite to exclusion of a juror, an irrevocable commitment to vote against the death penalty, rather than a general objection. Coppola v. Commonwealth, 220 Va. 243, 250, 257 S.E.2d 797, 802 (1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1103, 100 S.Ct. 1069, 62 L.Ed.2d 788 (1980). See Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38, 100 S.Ct. 2521, 65 L.Ed.2d 581 (1980), and Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978). But Justus contends that a jury seated after a Witherspoon voir dire is conviction-prone and, hence, not constitutionally impartial. [1] Before retrial, Justus filed a written motion to prohibit voir dire questioning on jurors' attitudes toward the death penalty. He also filed a second motion asking the trial court to take judicial notice of evidence stipulated in Hovey v. Superior Court of Alameda Cty., 28 Cal.3d 1, 168 Cal.Rptr. 128, 616 P.2d 1301 (1980). This stipulated evidence came from expert testimony and exhibits used in People v. David Lee Moore and Kenneth Lynne Moore, No. 67113 (Alameda Cty. (Cal.) Super.Ct.1979) to show a correlation between conviction rates and attitudes toward the death penalty. Justus also offered the following documents filed in Hovey : (1) Petition for Writ of Mandate and/or Prohibition and Request for Stay filed in Supreme Court of California November 27, 1979; (2) Petitioner's Opening Brief; and (3) Petitioner's Reply Brief and Answer to Brief of Amicus Curiae. The evidence proffered is inadmissible because it violates the hearsay rule. But even if Justus had met his evidentiary requirements, we would still reject his argument. All the studies were compiled on statistics from other states. They do not show a correlation between conviction-proneness and attitudes toward the death penalty among Virginia jurors. In Turner v. Commonwealth, 221 Va. 513, 523, n. 9, 273 S.E.2d 36, 42, n. 9 (1980), we stated that a study based upon statistics compiled in other states ... was of little utility in establishing the potential of prejudice in Virginia. Even assuming the studies showed a valid correlation between Virginia juror attitudes and conviction-proneness, we must reject the studies for another reason. The type of jury studied differs from the particular jury chosen to try Justus' case. In Hovey, the Supreme Court of California made a detailed analysis of the social science studies presented in the trial court and concluded that the studies could not reflect the California death-qualifying jury because the jury pool studied did not exclude those potential jurors who would automatically vote for the death penalty. Under the California statute, such jurors were subject to challenge for cause. 168 Cal.Rptr. at 170, 616 P.2d at 1343. In our situation, the same was true of the jury pool, not as a matter of statute but as a matter of fact. The court excused prospective juror Fosdick because he opposed the death penalty and prospective juror Small because he preferred the death penalty. Thus, the Virginia practice in this case corresponded with the California statute, and the experiments performed did not conform to the Virginia practice. We hold, therefore, that the proof proffered was inadmissible.