Opinion ID: 1770491
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Rehabilitation of the Venire

Text: During the course of voir dire, the circuit judge dismissed several potential jurors for cause, because they stated that they could never vote for the death penalty regardless of what the facts of the particular case might prove to be. This was in response to the circuit judge's question of whether they could ever consider the death penalty. Mr. Isom first argues that the circuit judge's denial of his request to rehabilitate the jurors was inconsistent with the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. He contends that by denying him an opportunity to conduct in-depth questioning of prospective jurors, the defense was prohibited from producing different answers from prospective jurors than those originally stated. He particularly took issue with the circuit judge's observation at one point that additional voir dire by the defense would be a waste of time. The State responds that whether the circuit judge abused his discretion is the standard of review upon appeal and that there was no abuse of discretion by the circuit judge in conducting the voir dire. The State also objects to Mr. Isom's aggregating his claims regarding voir dire without making a cumulative-error objection. The State further maintains that Mr. Isom failed to demonstrate how he was prejudiced by the circuit judge's voir dire, because the judge followed the narrow excusal-for-cause standard set out by the United States Supreme Court in Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968), rather than the broad standard established in Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 105 S.Ct. 844, 83 L.Ed.2d 841 (1985). The extent and scope of voir dire examination is within the sound discretion of the circuit judge, and the latitude of that discretion is wide. See Henry v. State, 309 Ark. 1, 828 S.W.2d 346 (1992). The judge's restriction of that examination will not be reversed on appeal unless that discretion is clearly abused. Id. Abuse of discretion occurs when the circuit judge acts arbitrarily or groundlessly. See Walker v. State, 304 Ark. 393, 803 S.W.2d 502 (1991). Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure provide the procedure for the conduct of proper voir dire in a criminal trial: (a) Voir dire examination shall be conducted for the purpose of discovering bases for challenge for cause and for the purpose of gaining knowledge to enable the parties to intelligently exercise peremptory challenges. The judge shall initiate the voir dire examination by: (I) identifying the parties; and (ii) identifying the respective counsel; and (iii) revealing the names of those witnesses whose names have been made known to the court by the parties; and (iv) briefly outlining the nature of the case. (b) The judge shall then put to the prospective jurors any question which he thinks necessary touching their qualifications to serve as jurors in the cause on trial. The judge shall also permit such additional questions by the defendant or his attorney and the prosecuting attorney as the judge deems reasonable and proper. Ark. R.Crim. P. 32.2(a) and (b) (emphasis added). The fact that the Rules allow the circuit judge to permit such additional questioning as he or she deems proper underscores the discretion vested in the circuit judge. This court has said that the proper test to be used in releasing a prospective juror for cause is whether the person's views would prevent or substantially impair the performance of his or her duties as a juror in accordance with his or her instructions and oath. See, e.g., Williams v. State, 288 Ark. 444, 705 S.W.2d 888 (1986). Because Arkansas recognizes the death penalty, jurors in a capital murder case must be able to consider imposing a death sentence if they are to perform their function as jurors. Id. The circuit judge in Williams v. State, supra , correctly decided that jurors who could not consider imposing a death sentence were properly excused for cause, because they could not perform their duties. We have further said that the purpose of voir dire examination is to discover if there is any basis for challenges for cause and to gain knowledge for the intelligent exercise of peremptory challenges, not to attempt to commit the jurors to a decision in advance. See Nutt v. State, 312 Ark. 247, 848 S.W.2d 427 (1993). In 1968, the United States Supreme Court reversed a petitioner's death sentence in Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968). The Court said: [A] State may not entrust the determination of whether a man should live or die to a tribunal organized to return a verdict of death. Specifically, we hold that a sentence of death cannot be carried out if the jury that imposed or recommended it was chosen by excluding veniremen for cause simply because they voiced general objections to the death penalty or expressed conscientious or religious scruples against its infliction. No defendant can constitutionally be put to death at the hands of a tribunal so selected. Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. at 521-22, 88 S.Ct. 1770. However, the Court added that if the State had excluded only those prospective jurors who stated in advance of trial that they would not even consider returning a verdict of death, it could argue that the resulting jury was simply `neutral' with respect to penalty. Id. Failure of a prospective juror even to consider a verdict of death is what this court believes to be the permissible standard for excusal for cause under Witherspoon . In 1985, the United States Supreme Court decided a second jury-selection case involving capital punishment. See Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 105 S.Ct. 844, 83 L.Ed.2d 841 (1985). In Wainwright , the Court clarified its decision in Witherspoon v. Illinois, supra , regarding the proper standard for determining when a prospective juror may be excluded for cause because of his or her views on capital punishment. The Court said that the standard is whether the juror's views would prevent or substantially impair the performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his oath. Wainwright, 469 U.S. at 424, 105 S.Ct. 844 (internal quotations omitted). We conclude that the circuit judge did not abuse his discretion in refusing to allow Mr. Isom's counsel to attempt to rehabilitate prospective jurors by additional voir dire questions. [2] Under Rule 32.2(b), the judge can allow questions from counsel as the judge deems reasonable and proper. Accordingly, it lies within the sound discretion of the circuit judge to disallow additional questioning as unreasonable or improper under the circumstances. The circuit judge had already posited the general question of whether the prospective jurors could consider the death penalty under any circumstances. A negative answer resulted in excusal for cause at times. At times, the judge clearly did not believe that additional questions would be productive or beneficial. In light of this, it was not an abuse of the circuit judge's discretion to disallow further questions by defense counsel.