Opinion ID: 1528630
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: prospective juror's remark during voir dire

Text: During voir dire a prospective juror, when asked if he had any beliefs that would prevent his considering the death penalty in a proper case, replied, When it comes down to the death penalty itself, giving, I'm not really going to worry about it because I look at it farther down the line. May be going too far. Counsel is going to appeal, so it will be a long time before the man even approach that. Shortly thereafter, the trial court instructed all the prospective jurors present to disregard all remarks that [the juror] made and told them not to consider anything that would occur after the trial in making their determination in this case. The prospective jurors indicated they would. The Defendant argues that the prospective juror's remark infected the entire jury panel and diminished the jury's collective sense of responsibility for imposing a death sentence in violation of Caldwell v. Mississippi, infra . Caldwell does not require reversal. It involved argument by the State, approved by the trial judge, informing the jury that its decision was not final. We find that any potential prejudice here was avoided by the trial court's curative instruction, which the jury is presumed to have followed. State v. Baker, 751 S.W.2d 154, 164 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1987).