Opinion ID: 4037937
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Comments During Voir Dire

Text: Mr. Twobabies argues that the prosecution’s comments and questions during voir dire about the reasonable doubt standard created confusion for the jury and were designed to lower the prosecution’s burden of proof. After one prospective juror stated that his “greatest fear has always been sending an innocent person to jail,” the prosecution later asked, “[I]f we prove . . . beyond a reasonable doubt, which is what the law requires, if we prove that, you would still be able to find the defendant guilty, even though you have this concern about putting an innocent man in jail?” R., Vol. 2, Trial Tr. Vol. 1 at 212-13. The juror responded: “Absolutely.” Id. at 213. The prosecution followed up by reiterating its concern that a juror might be “so fearful of putting somebody who is innocent in prison that [he or she] won’t really consider what the law is.” Id. at 214. The juror affirmed that despite his concern, he would still be able to find someone guilty if the prosecution met its burden of proof. The OCCA found no error warranting relief, citing Phillips v. State, 989 P.2d 1017, 1028 (Okla. Crim. App. 1999), for the proposition that comments “used to dispel commonly held attitudes and often heard phrases” do not necessarily amount to impermissible attempts to define reasonable doubt. R., Vol. 1 at 43. The OCCA further determined that Mr. Twobabies failed to show the prosecution’s comments or -9- any other references to reasonable doubt during voir dire misled the jury, were incorrect statements of the law, or amounted to a constitutional violation. Mr. Twobabies has not shown the OCCA unreasonably applied clearly established federal law when it affirmed on this issue. Reasonable jurists could not debate the district court’s denial of this claim. Accordingly, we deny a COA.