Opinion ID: 2429694
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sociologist Expert

Text: As mentioned previously, prior to trial, Davis's counsel filed a motion asking the trial court to authorize funds so that he could employ a sociologist to conduct a study to determine whether death-qualified juries are constitutional, but, at a hearing on this motion, the court refused. On appeal, Davis claims that this refusal was a violation of his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution. Clearly, as Davis points out, fundamental fairness entitles indigent defendants to an adequate opportunity to present their claims fairly within the adversary system. Ross v. Moffitt, 417 U.S. 600, 612, 94 S.Ct. 2437, 2444-45, 41 L.Ed.2d 341 (1974). However, Davis wanted the funds to pay for the sociologist to pursue a moot point. This court has on numerous occasions rejected the notion that death-qualified juries are unconstitutional. Hickson v. State, 312 Ark. 171, 847 S.W.2d 691 (1993); Fretwell v. State, 289 Ark. 91, 708 S.W.2d 630 (1986); Rector v. State, 280 Ark. 385, 659 S.W.2d 168 (1983), cert. denied 466 U.S. 988, 104 S.Ct. 2370, 80 L.Ed.2d 842 (1984). The United States Supreme Court has also rejected this argument, holding that death-qualified juries are constitutional. Lockhart v. McCree, 476 U.S. 162, 106 S.Ct. 1758, 90 L.Ed.2d 137 (1986). Citing McCree for support, Davis has based his argument that the trial court erred on the premise that the United States Supreme Court in McCree reached its decision that death-qualified juries are constitutional because the sociological studies with which it was presented were deficient. The Court noted, in this regard: Having identified some of the more serious problems with McCree's studies, however, we will assume for purposes of this opinion that the studies are both methodologically valid and adequate to establish that `death qualification' in fact produces juries somewhat more conviction prone than non-death qualified juries. We hold, nevertheless, that the constitution does not prohibit the states from death qualifying juries in capital cases. McCree, 476 U.S. at 173, 106 S.Ct. at 1764. It is evident that the United States Supreme Court was not basing its opinion on the presumption that the studies were deficient. The court enumerated the fifteen studies presented, pointed out the problems with each study, and then determined that even if the studies had not been deficient, death-qualified juries would still be deemed constitutional. Thus, the conclusion cannot be made from Davis's argument that his proposed sociological study would have unearthed a new result. As a result, this argument is meritless.