Opinion ID: 2277244
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Attorney-Conducted Voir Dire

Text: Initially, defendant contends that the convictions should be reversed because the trial court's refusal to permit attorney-conducted voir dire violated defendant's right to an impartial jury, to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, and to due process of law. We rejected this argument in Biegenwald II, supra, 106 N.J. at 29-30. Defendant argues that in Biegenwald II we did not adequately consider social science research allegedly demonstrating that a judge-conducted voir dire is inadequate to produce an impartial jury. We remain unpersuaded, however, that attorney-conducted voir dire is constitutionally required. In this case, the trial court solicited questions from counsel and included most of the questions submitted by defense counsel in the questionnaire distributed to each potential juror. Moreover, after completing the initial questioning of each juror, the court asked counsel whether they wanted it to ask further questions. In many instances, the court accepted counsel's suggestions and conducted further questioning of the jurors. We find no reason to disturb the procedure followed by the court.