Opinion ID: 2610902
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to Discharge Venire

Text: (5) Defendant argues the court erred in failing to discharge the entire jury venire after learning that some prospective jurors indicated they were biased against defendant. Prospective juror Sturgeon stated on voir dire that she had heard her fellow venirepersons make statements such as even his own lawyers think he's guilty, and they ought to have [ sic ] him and get it over with. At defendant's request, the court held a hearing on the matter. On further examination, Sturgeon asserted that at least five prospective jurors had made such remarks, and she identified some persons whom she believed had either made such comments or had overheard them being made. Prospective juror Durling confirmed that he and a few other venirepersons, while in the court elevator, had made statements such as in frontier justice style, the authorities should bring the guilty S.O.B. in, we'll give him a trial, and then hang him. Prospective juror Clasen stated he had heard similar comments from other venirepersons. Defendant thereupon moved to discharge the entire venire, on the ground that it had become tainted and further inquiry would only aggravate the situation. The trial court denied the motion without prejudice to a renewed motion following further voir dire. Defendant declined to conduct such voir dire, asserting it would be impossible to further explore juror bias without antagonizing the jurors and creating added bias against defendant. The People observe that none of the prospective jurors implicated during the bias hearing actually served on defendant's jury, and each person selected for the jury affirmed his or her ability to be fair and impartial. Moreover, the People note that defendant failed to exhaust his peremptory challenges and, accordingly, cannot complain of any error in failing to exclude particular jurors. (See, e.g., People v. Coleman (1988) 46 Cal.3d 749, 770-771 [251 Cal. Rptr. 83, 759 P.2d 1260].) We question the application of the foregoing rule to situations in which the defendant complains of a failure to discharge an entire venire, for we could not expect the defendant to expend his peremptory challenges in a vain attempt to exclude every member of the venire. But, for other reasons, we think the People's basic position has merit. We believe the trial court possesses broad discretion to determine whether or not possible bias or prejudice against the defendant has contaminated the entire venire to such an extreme that its discharge is required. Defendant cites no case, and we have found none, indicating that such a drastic remedy is appropriate as a matter of course merely because a few prospective jurors have made inflammatory remarks. Unquestionably, further investigation and more probing voir dire examination may be called for in such situations, but discharging the entire venire is a remedy that should be reserved for the most serious occasions of demonstrated bias or prejudice, where interrogation and removal of the offending venirepersons would be insufficient protection for the defendant. The present case falls short of that mark. We conclude the trial court did not err in declining to discharge the entire venire.