Opinion ID: 2594735
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Failure to Object to Prosecution's Voir Dire

Text: Defendant contends his trial counsel was ineffective because he failed to object to voir dire questions the prosecutor asked some of the prospective jurors, including two who ultimately served as jurors. Defendant considers objectionable the prosecution's inquiries to prospective jurors whether they would view a person's possession of recently stolen property as circumstantial evidence that the person stole the property, whether they considered rape more of an assaultive than a sexually motivated offense, and whether they thought it was possible for a young man to rape an elderly woman and not be mentally ill. Defense counsel's failure to object to these questions was not deficient performance, because the prosecutor's questions were within the bounds of proper voir dire. At the time of defendant's trial, permissible voir dire questions encompassed matters on which the population holds strong views that may affect deliberations, and included reasonable inquiries into specific prejudices as a basis for a challenge for cause. ( People v. Noguera (1992) 4 Cal.4th 599, 645-646, 15 Cal. Rptr.2d 400, 842 P.2d 1160.) [5] A question directed at obtaining knowledge as the basis for an exercise of a peremptory challenge, we said, was not objectionable merely because of its additional tendency to indoctrinate or educate the jury. ( People v. Williams (1981) 29 Cal.3d 392, 408, 174 Cal.Rptr. 317, 628 P.2d 869.) Here, the prosecution's questions concerning circumstantial evidence enabled it to learn whether prospective jurors could understand and draw inferences from such evidence; the questions regarding rape being an assaultive or sexually motivated crime and whether a rape of an elderly victim by a young man established mental illness addressed possible specific biases prospective jurors might harbor and were matters about which members of the population could have strong views that could affect jury deliberations. Defendant accuses the prosecutor of misusing the voir dire process by erroneously telling the jury that the standard of proof of beyond a reasonable doubt applied to the penalty phase and by suggesting that jurors do not have the ultimate responsibility for the penalty decision. These assertions are presented as conclusions without adequate supporting argument, and we therefore do not consider them. ( People v. Barnett (1998) 17 Cal.4th 1044, 1182, 74 Cal.Rptr.2d 121, 954 P.2d 384.)