Opinion ID: 1651956
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ineffectiveness During Voir Dire

Text: Echols next argues that trial counsel was ineffective during voir dire for failing to adequately question the jurors regarding pretrial publicity and their knowledge of Misskelley's confession. In denying relief on this claim, the trial court found that Echols had failed to prove that any juror was actually biased against him. As such, the trial court concluded that under this court's case law, Echols's claim must fail. We agree. During the Rule 37 hearing, Price testified that every juror knew something about the case. He also testified that he had read all of the articles and knew what was in the media, thus he knew what the prospective jurors had been exposed to prior to trial. In discussing the pretrial publicity, Price stated: In our case there was a lot of pre-trial publicity, and the press was covering stories and trying to seek different angles. Because a lot of it initiallyof course, the first month of it was about the crimes themselves, and then after that about our clients. There was a lot of negative stuff out there, but much of the stuff that was out there we couldn't really respond to until the trial. We're not trained to battle in the press to win our case there. We're trying to win in the courtroom. ... [J]ust because people have heard things through the media or through rumors, if what they've heard does not comport with what they hear at the trial, sometimes it can actually be an advantage to the defendant. When asked about how he approached voir dire, Price first stated that he initially requested more than twelve strikes. He further testified that in conducting voir dire, he used his experience from picking juries in at least sixty previous trials. He also testified that he had read a book about jury selection and used ideas from that book as well as ideas from a jury consultant that he had used in a previous case to assist him. He also testified that they utilized the services of Baldwin's jury consultant. Of principal importance, however, were his own experiences and ability to personally observe each of the prospective jurors in terms of their answers, their demeanor, and their inflections. Price testified that he used all of these things to select what he believed to be a fair and unbiased jury. This view was corroborated by the fact that Price did not use all of the peremptory challenges that were available to him. This court will not label counsel ineffective merely because of possible bad tactics or strategy in selecting a jury. See Johnson v. State, 321 Ark. 117, 900 S.W.2d 940 (1995). Jurors are presumed unbiased and qualified to serve. Isom v. State, 284 Ark. 426, 682 S.W.2d 755 (1985) ( per curiam ). To prevail on an allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel with regard to jury selection, a petitioner first has the heavy burden of overcoming the presumption that jurors are unbiased. Tackett v. State, 284 Ark. 211, 680 S.W.2d 696 (1984) ( per curiam ). To accomplish this, a petitioner must demonstrate actual bias, and the actual bias must have been sufficient to prejudice the petitioner to the degree that he was denied a fair trial. Id. Bare allegations of prejudice by counsel's conduct during voir dire that are unsupported by any showing of actual prejudice do not establish ineffective assistance of counsel. Hayes v. State, 280 Ark. 509, 660 S.W.2d 648 (1983) ( per curiam ), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1051, 104 S.Ct. 1331, 79 L.Ed.2d 726 (1984). Echols has failed to show the existence of an actual bias on the part of some or all of the jurors. The best he can do is cite to a portion of voir dire during which the prosecuting attorney, Brent Davis, asked Juror Tate [7] whether she had formed any opinion regarding the guilt or innocence of the defendants based on what she had read or heard prior to trial. She stated that she had thought about the guilt or innocence of the defendants, but she indicated that her opinions were not so fixed that she could not listen objectively to the evidence. Echols asserts that Price's failure to ask the juror about her fixed opinions was error and cannot be considered as trial strategy. Price indicated during the Rule 37 proceedings that he could not remember why he had failed to follow up on her remarks. However, the record reflects that Juror Tate was ultimately excused by the trial court before Price had the opportunity to question her, because she stated that she could not set aside what she had read about the murders. It can hardly be error to fail to voir dire a juror that has already been struck. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's ruling on this issue.