Opinion ID: 204071
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Juror MM's Alleged Dishonesty During Voir Dire

Text: DeBurgo also claims that he is entitled to the writ under § 2254(d)(2) because the state court unreasonably determined the facts regarding whether MM lied during voir dire about her familiarity with DeBurgo. Because the Sixth Amendment guarantees a criminal defendant the right to an impartial jury, the remedy for allegations of juror partiality is a hearing in which the defendant has the opportunity to prove actual bias. Smith v. Phillips, 455 U.S. 209, 215, 102 S.Ct. 940, 71 L.Ed.2d 78 (1982). The defendant must meet two showings in order to obtain a new trial: [A] party must first demonstrate that a juror failed to answer honestly a material question on voir dire, and then further show that a correct response would have provided a valid basis for a challenge for cause. McDonough Power Equip., Inc. v. Greenwood, 464 U.S. 548, 556, 104 S.Ct. 845, 78 L.Ed.2d 663 (1984); see also Dall v. Coffin, 970 F.2d 964, 969 (1st Cir.1992). Importantly, the defendant has the burden of showing that the juror was not impartial and must do so by a preponderance of the evidence. Amirault, 399 Mass. 617, 626, 506 N.E.2d 129 (1987). Further, on appeal, the reviewing state court will not reverse such a factual determination by the trial judge [i]n the absence of clear abuse of discretion or a showing that the judge's findings were clearly erroneous. Id. Given the standards above, DeBurgo faced an uphill climb in the state courts in proving juror MM's bias and in seeking to reverse the trial judge on direct appeal. Because his case reaches us on habeas review, he faces an additional layer of deference which only makes his task harder. Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1), a determination of a factual issue made by a State court shall be presumed to be correct. The applicant shall have the burden of rebutting the presumption of correctness by clear and convincing evidence. DeBurgo marshals a variety of facts and arguments to show by clear and convincing evidence that we should not presume the state court's factual determinations to be correct. Though he makes a credible attempt to meet his heavy burden, DeBurgo ultimately falls short. He points to the following facts and arguments in support of his cause. [13] First, juror LC testified that MM told her that she (MM) knew DeBurgo. Second, LC's testimony was corroborated by KM, at least in the sense that KM testified that LC recounted to her the same story about the alleged bathroom conversation with MM. Third, the court officer reported that MM told him that she knew someone that she had some dealings with at work, who was in some way related to Mr. DeBurgo or a similar statement. Fourth, the trial judge implicitly found that MM lied at the post-trial hearing with regard to whether she communicated the Lopes information to the jury. Fifth, DeBurgo argues that the trial judge offered no reason why he rejected the testimony of LC, KM and the other jurors and accepted MM's denial and provided no credibility assessment of the post-trial hearing witnesses. DeBurgo argues that this is particularly egregious given that the trial judge implicitly found MM had lied as to the Lopes information. Sixth, DeBurgo notes that the trial judge's decision to allow MM to review LC's testimony prior to testifying provides plausible grounds for disbelieving [MM's] account. We are somewhat sympathetic to DeBurgo's challenge of the trial judge's conclusion regarding MM's credibility on the voir dire issue, as was the district court below. It appears that the trial judge did not believe MM's denials as to the Lopes information; however, he seemingly reached a different conclusion as to whether she was honest about her prior familiarity with DeBurgo. The judge did not offer a clear explanation for this apparent inconsistency or explain how he weighed MM's testimony against the other available information about MM's pre-trial familiarity with DeBurgo. Finally, MM's access to a transcript of LC's testimony raises reliability doubts. Be that as it may, we are not reviewing the trial judge's decision directly. Rather, the presumed correctness of the trial judge's factual findings can only be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, which, as we explain below, DeBurgo cannot offer on this record. In addition, we are mindful that DeBurgo carried the original burden of showing juror bias by a preponderance of the evidence and we think this is the best lens through which to view the conclusion the trial judge reached. The trial judge noted in his opinion: Given the speculative quality about when [MM] knew something about DeBurgo, a conclusion that she lied about her lack of knowledge lacks a solid basis in the evidence.  He concluded: From these findings, there follows the ruling that defendant has failed to make out an adequate showing of dishonesty during voir dire of the venire. Essentially, though he may not have had full confidence in MM's truthfulness at the post-trial hearing (and therefore at voir dire) the judge did not find that DeBurgo mustered sufficient evidence on the other side to show, by a preponderance, that MM necessarily knew of DeBurgo before trial. Indeed, the evidence that DeBurgo points to regarding MM's alleged familiarity with DeBurgo is not as compelling as he indicates. First, we note that the trial judge made a careful inquiry and apparently uncovered no evidence the MM made any comments about knowing DeBurgo before or during deliberations. In addition, the trial judge may well have determined that LC's perception of MM's bathroom comments was skewed by the strong emotions that LC experienced post-trial. Similarly, the written account by the court officer was vague as to what precisely MM told him and whether she discovered the apparently tenuous connection to DeBurgo before or during trial. Finally, KM's testimony only provided evidentiary support that LC believed that MM had said that she (MM) knew DeBurgo; KM's testimony was not direct evidence of anything MM actually said. Ultimately, the evidence DeBurgo offered regarding MM's alleged bias presented the trial judge with, at most, a close case. That a different factfinder might have reached a different conclusion is not sufficient to reverse the state court's determination on habeas review. Though DeBurgo raises legitimate questions about the trial judge's reasoning, he does not undermine the presumption of correctness on habeas by presenting us with clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. We therefore affirm the district court's denial of the writ. [14]