Opinion ID: 1361062
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: pretrial motions and jury selection

Text: The defendant assigns as error (Assignments Nos. 21 and 22) the trial court's excusal for cause of the three veniremen, Robertson, Melton, and Williams. The defendant argues that these three potential jurors were improperly excused for cause and thus the defendant was deprived of his life without due process of law and his right to trial by jury. This argument concerns the trial court's excusal for cause during voir dire of the three veniremen because of their responses to the Witherspoon v. Illinois [3] death qualification questions. The applicable constitutional standard permits the excuse of a potential juror for cause if it is established that he `would automatically vote against the imposition of capital punishment without regard to any evidence that might be developed at the trial of the case ....' Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 522 at n. 21, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 1777 [at n. 21], 20 L.Ed.2d 776, 785 [at n. 21] (1968); see State v. Cherry, 298 N.C. 86, 257 S.E.2d 551 (1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 941, 100 S.Ct. 2165, 64 L.Ed.2d 796 (1980). State v. Pinch, ___ N.C. ___, 292 S.E.2d 203 (1982). The defendant contends that the three jurors excused for cause on this basis did not unequivocally state that they were so unalterably opposed to the death penalty that they would be unwilling to vote in favor of the death sentence no matter how aggravated the facts and circumstances turned out to be. The record reveals that this contention is without merit, for considering contextually their responses to the questions propounded, the potential jurors expressed sufficient refusal to follow the law of capital punishment, should it become applicable to the case, to justify their excusal for cause. State v. Pinch, ___ N.C. ___, 292 S.E.2d 203; State v. Avery, 299 N.C. 126, 261 S.E.2d 803 (1980). The record reveals that Frances Williams unequivocally stated that she would not impose the death penalty: EXAMINATION By the Court: .... Q. All right. Now, if you answered each of those yesthat you found beyond a reasonable doubt there were aggravating circumstances, you found beyond a reasonable doubt that they were sufficiently substantial to call for the imposition of the death penalty, and you also found that the aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt outweighed the mitigating circumstances, would you then vote to impose the death penalty? A. I just don't feel like I could impose the death penalty. Q. Not even if you were satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of those things? A. No I feel life imprisonment. MR. CLONINGER: Could I ask her one more question? COURT: (Nods his head.) EXAMINATION By Mr. Cloninger: Q. Mrs. Williams, you understand that unless you were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the aggravating circumstances were sufficiently substantial to require the death penalty you would not be required to recommend a sentence of death? A. Um-hum. Q. All right. Knowing that, again I ask you could you not follow the law that His Honor gives you and apply it and make your own determination based on the law His Honor gives you and the evidence that you'll hear at the sentencing hearing? A. Well, I understand that, you know, I have to take the evidence into consideration, and I realize that the law with the death penaltyI understand that that is one of the penalties, but I just don't feel the death penalty is right. That's just Q. Yes, ma'am. I understand that. I understand your feelings. Do you understand that you would not be required under the law to make a recommendation of the sentence of death unless you yourself were personally satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the aggravating circumstances that the State alleged were sufficiently substantial to justify in your mind a recommendation of a death sentence? Do you understand that? A. Right. I have to feel that it'sthat that the evidence is all there and that in my mind I feel like that that'sthat's what you are trying to tell me, right? Q. What I'm trying to tell you, I guess, is you understand that you are not required to make a recommendation of a sentence of death unless you are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the aggravating circumstances are so badare so substantiallyare so sufficiently substantial to require in your mind the imposition of the death sentence? If you are not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of that in your mind, you are not required to make a recommendation of death. Now, again I ask you could you not do that? A. I could in my mind think and decide, yes, how I felt. COURT: Well, Mrs. Williams, if you were satisfied of all those things beyond a reasonable doubt, then would you invoke to impose the death penalty? A. I just don't feel like that I could. The same is true of Mrs. Robertson: EXAMINATION By the Court: .... Q. If you serve as a juror in this case, could and would you if called upon to do so make a sentence recommendation of life imprisonment or death in accordance with the law of North Carolina as that will be explained to you by the court, or would you be unable to do so regardless of the law and the facts and circumstances and evidence because of your conscientious beliefs as to the proper punishment for first-degree murder? A. I believe I would be unable to. Q. You feel that in spiteyou could not follow the lawthat ifeven though the State has satisfied you beyond a reasonable doubt of the things it is required to so satisfy you under the law that you could not return a recommendation of punishment of death because of your beliefs about that? A. I believe I could not. .... EXAMINATION By Mr. Cloninger: Q. Do you feel if you were selected as a juror that you could consider the death penalty if it became necessary to consider it, that you could discuss it with other jurors, that you could discuss the law, and you could discuss the evidence in the case? You could consider it, couldn't you? A. I could discuss the evidence, yes. I'm not too sure about discussing the death penalty. Q. Well, you could discuss it with other jurors, couldn't you? DISTRICT ATTORNEY: OBJECTION to arguing with the witness. COURT: Go ahead. Q. Do you feel like you could discuss it? A. I'm not sure. Q. All right, and I ask youthere are some circumstancessome aggravating circumstances which are so serious, so severe that you could consider the death penalty as an appropriate sentence and consider recommending it, couldn't you? A. No. Q. Under no circumstances? A. I don't believe so. The record concerning Mrs. Melton consists of the following questions by the Court and her answers thereto: EXAMINATION By the Court: .... Q. Now, if you serve as a juror in this case, could and would you if called upon to do so make a sentence recommendation of life imprisonment or death in accordance with the law as it will be explained to you by the court, or would you be unable to do so regardless of the law and the facts and circumstances revealed by the evidence because of some conscientious belief as to the proper punishment for first-degree murder; that is, that you conscientiously feel that it should in all cases be life in prison or you feel in all cases it should be the death penalty? A. Your Honor, I'm not sure I could say that someone else had to die. I'm not sure I could do that. Q. Well, it'sthis is something we have to determine at this statewhether you if you serve as a juror could follow the law of North Carolina and if you are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of those things which the law requires you to be satisfied you could then return a recommendation of the death penalty. A. I'm not positive I could do that. I've never been called on to do that, and I'm not sure that I could live with my conscience. Q. Well, do you have conscientious beliefs about the death penaltyreligious beliefs about it? A. Yes. Q. And you do not feel that you could follow the instructions of the court if you were satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of the things of which you must be satisfied. If those conclusions would call for the death penalty, you don't feel you could make such a recommendation? A. I'm not sure that I could. The fact that her negative responses were phrased as I'm not sure I could or I'm not positive I could does not equivocate her refusal to follow the law as given by the judge to such an extent as to make the challenge for cause improper. State v. Avery, 299 N.C. 126, 261 S.E.2d 803. It is apparent that Mrs. Melton was irrevocably committed before the trial [began], to vote against the penalty of death regardless of the facts and circumstances that might emerge in the course of the proceedings. Davis v. Georgia, 429 U.S. 122, 97 S.Ct. 399, 50 L.Ed.2d 339 (1976). The defendant argues in connection with his Assignments 21 and 22 that the judge suggested that the defendant was obligated to examine the potential jurors about their death penalty feelings. This contention presents a misinterpretation of the judge's remarks. The exchange upon which the contention is based is as follows: [By the Court:] Q. Do you wish to ask her any questions? DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The State would challenge her for cause. MR. CLONINGER: We don'tI don't wish to ask her any questions, Your Honor. COURT: All right. The challenge for cause is allowed. Thank you, Mrs. Melton. I'm going to ask you to go up to Courtroom B. Judge Kirby will know whether he needs you for any other case. Okay. Thank you. MR. CLONINGER: Could we for the record enter an objection to the exclusion of that juror, Mrs. Melton? COURT: Now, gentlemen, I'm not going toif you want to try to rehabilitate a juror, you're going to do it. I'm not going to play games. Now, I gave you an opportunity to ask any questions you wanted to ask. What's the next juror's name? There is no indication that the judge was placing the burden of death disqualification on the defense. The judge was merely admonishing defense counsel of his duty of effective representation. By further questioning, the defense possibly could have shown that the potential juror did not actually mean to say that he or she could not return a recommendation of death no matter what the circumstances. The defendant was not denied his constitutional rights to due process of law or trial by jury by the excusal of these jurors for cause. State v. Pinch, ___ N.C. ___, 292 S.E.2d 203; State v. Avery, 299 N.C. 126, 261 S.E.2d 803; State v. Cherry, 298 N.C. 86, 257 S.E.2d 551 (1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 941, 100 S.Ct. 2165, 64 L.Ed.2d 796 (1980). Assignments of Error Nos. 21 and 22 are overruled. The defendant assigns as error (Assignments Nos. 1, 2 and 3) the trial court's failure to dismiss the indictment and to strike the venire of petty jurors on the ground that the grand and petty venires were discriminatorily selected and failed to represent a cross-section of the community. He further assigns as error the trial court's denial of defendant's motion that the court order the State of North Carolina to provide funds to hire a statistician to assist the defendant in his challenge to the array of the grand jury and the composition of the petty jury venire. In ruling on these motions, the court found that it had been stipulated between the State and the defendant that the compilation of the master jury panel list for Gaston County, from which the members of the grand jury returning the indictments in this case were drawn, and the master panel, from which the venire of the trial jurors had been drawn for the trial in this case, were selected in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 9 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, i.e. from the voter registration lists and the property tax lists for the county. The State and the defendant also stipulated that there was no evidence of any intentional discrimination upon the grounds of race in preparing these lists. The court concluded therefore as a matter of law that the procedure followed was in conformity with the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of North Carolina. Defendant's counsel did not investigate other sources from which information as to the racial computation of the master jury panel might be determined. Based on these factors, the judge properly denied the defendant's motions to dismiss the indictment. State v. Cornell, 281 N.C. 20, 187 S.E.2d 768 (1972). The trial court also properly denied the defendant's motion for a State-funded statistician. Our cases have established the rule that an expert assistant, in this case a statistician, must be provided only upon a showing by the defendant that there is a reasonable likelihood that it will materially assist the defendant in the preparation of his defense or that without such help it is probable that the defendant will not receive a fair trial. State v. Gray, 292 N.C. 270, 279, 233 S.E.2d 905, 911 (1977); State v. Tatum, 291 N.C. 73, 229 S.E.2d 562 (1976). The defendant also argued that it was error for the trial court to deny his motion for a court-appointed expert to aid him in his challenge to the jury compositions in his appeal to this Court of his Cabarrus County murder conviction. State v. Williams (I), 304 N.C. 394, 284 S.E.2d 437 (1981). There, this Court pointed out that the defendant had made no showing of a reasonable likelihood that the appointment of a statistician would have materially assisted him in the preparation or presentation of his contentions and thus overruled the assignment of error. The defendant concedes that he made no stronger showing of a reasonable likelihood that a statistician would be of material assistance in this case than he did in the Cabarrus County case, but asks the court to reconsider its rulings on this issue. We reaffirm our prior rulings, and Assignments of Error Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are overruled. In Assignment of Error No. 15, the defendant contends that the court erred in denying his motions to allow him to participate as co-counsel in the trial and to participate in voir dire. This same argument also was rejected in Williams (I). We reaffirm our ruling there: Although a criminal defendant cannot be required to accept the services of court-appointed counsel, (citations omitted) we have previously said that a criminal defendant cannot represent himself and, at the same time, accept the services of court-appointed counsel. State v. House, 295 N.C. 189, 244 S.E.2d 654 (1978), answered this very question as follows: It is well settled that a defendant in a criminal action has a right to represent himself at the trial and cannot be required to accept the services of court-appointed counsel. (Citations omitted.) It is, however, equally well settled that `[a] party has the right to appear in propria persona or by counsel, but this right is alternative,' so that `one has no right to appear both by himself and by counsel.' (Citations omitted.) Thus, while the defendant elected to retain the services of the court-appointed counsel, the court did not err in holding that the interrogation of prospective jurors and of witnesses must be done through his counsel. Id. at 204, 244 S.E.2d at 662. The Court's decision in House clearly answers the question posed by this assignment of error adversely to defendant's contention. Williams (I) at 407, 284 S.E.2d at 446. This assignment of error is overruled. The defendant next argues that (Assignments of Error Nos. 7, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 41): [T]he procedure set out in G.S. § 15A-2000(a)(2) for death qualifying a jury prior to the guilt phase and requiring the same jury to hear both the guilt phase of the trial and the penalty phase of the trial is unconstitutional. It is the defendant's contention that death qualifying the jury prior to the guilt phase results in a guilt prone jury; thereby depriving the defendant of his right to a fair trial, a fair sentencing hearing and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, all guaranteed by the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. In addition, the defendant contends that the process of `death qualifying' the jury and excluding for cause those jurors who express opposition to the death penalty deprives the defendant of his rights to equal protection of the laws, a jury chosen from a cross-section of the community and due process of law, all guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. As acknowledged by the defendant, this Court has decided these issues against the defendant, and the assignments of error upon which this argument is made are without merit. State v. Pinch, ___ N.C. ___, 292 S.E.2d 203; State v. Taylor, 304 N.C. 249, 283 S.E.2d 761 (1981); State v. Avery, 299 N.C. 126, 261 S.E.2d 803.