Opinion ID: 1781677
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Emma Rachal

Text: Finally, defendant claims that the trial court erred in granting the state's challenge for cause as to prospective juror Emma Rachal. On her juror questionnaire, she wrote that she is Catholic and has a Pro-Life bumper sticker on her car. She also advised the court that she would feel guilty about imposing the death penalty. She went on to state: A: I don't think that I have the right to condemn somebody else to death, and that would be what I would be doing in one sense. Q: You're crediting that to a moral belief? A: Well, moral or religious. Q: Okay. A: I don't believe it's in my hand to do this. I mean, the other things I would feel sort of okay about doing. But this is one thing that I don't know if I would feel comfortable doing this. Ms. Rachal also indicated that if the defense did not put on a case, she would have problems with defendant's Fifth Amendment presumption of innocence. In each of these instances, the prospective jurors expressed views that would prevent or substantially impair them from making impartial decisions as jurors, and thus the trial court's decision to grant the state's challenges for cause as to each is supported by the record. This assignment is meritless.