Court Opinion

ID: 9861756
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-25 00:28:05.731227+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:28:55.987254
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE O’HARA FROSSARD, specially concurring: Evaluating expressions of bias or prejudice by potential jurors during voir dire is particularly fact specific and requires factual analysis on a case-by-case basis. I agree that defendant’s case should be reversed and remanded because he was denied a fair trial due to the court’s failure to sua sponte excuse the juror in question. However, I write separately because I do not believe our holding runs counter to People v. Bowman, 325 Ill. App. 3d 411 (2001). Rather, I believe the facts of this case distinguish it from Bowman. This case, unlike Bowman, is not about whether the defendant received a fair and impartial jury trial in the context of equivocal expressions by jurors of an inability to be fair. This case is about whether the defendant received a fair trial where a juror clearly and unequivocally expressed an inability to be fair, but nonetheless served on the jury. Unlike Bowman, the expression of bias by the potential juror in this case was not equivocal, but clear. That fact distinguishes this case from Bowman and the cases relied upon by Bowman. Under principles of fundamental fairness, that fact mandates the opposite conclusion from that reached in Bowman, which concluded that the trial court acted within its discretion in refusing defense challenges to two jurors who gave equivocal answers regarding the ability to be fair. Bowman, 325 Ill. App. 3d at 424. Bowman further addressed the issue of the nature of the trial court’s sua sponte duty to ask potential jurors additional questions during voir dire. After the juror in Bowman equivocated as to whether she could be fair, no further questioning occurred regarding that equivocal answer. In the factual context of that case, Bowman stated: “We have found no case that holds, under circumstances similar to these, the trial court has a sua sponte duty to ask a prospective juror more questions. Still, its failure to do so is troubling. Had defense counsel asked for further inquiry, and had the request been turned down, we would have a far different case.” Bowman, 325 Ill. App. 3d at 425. This case, unlike Bowman, is not about whether the judge has a sua sponte duty to ask an equivocal juror additional questions during voir dire. We do not have the failure by the trial court to ask a prospective juror additional questions, which the Bowman court found troubling. Rather, the record reflects that the trial judge in this case properly and thoroughly questioned the potential juror. The issue here is whether the trial judge had a sua sponte duty to excuse a juror when that juror expressed unequivocally that she was biased and that her bias would affect her ability to be fair. The trial judge in a criminal case has the primary responsibility to conduct a voir dire that procures jurors free from bias or prejudice to provide defendant a trial before a fair and impartial jury. People v. Bowel, 111 Ill. 2d 58, 64-65 (1986). Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 234 (134 Ill. 2d R. 234), made applicable to criminal cases by Rule 431 (134 Ill. 2d R. 431), the primary responsibility for both initiating and conducting the voir dire examination lies with the trial court, and the manner and scope of that examination remain in the discretion of the trial court. People v. Porter, 111 Ill. 2d 386, 401 (1986). Where, as here, neither party has exercised a peremptory challenge against a potential juror, the decision whether to accept the potential juror as an impartial trier of fact is discretionary with the trial judge. People v. Taylor, 101 Ill. 2d 377, 386-87 (1984). An abuse of discretion will be found only if, after a review of the record, it is determined that the conduct of the court thwarted the selection of an impartial jury. People v. Williams, 164 Ill. 2d 1, 16 (1994). In the present case the unequivocal answers provided by the juror during voir dire put the juror’s impartiality squarely into question. Trial counsel are advocates seeking a jury that will under the particular circumstances of the case be sympathetic to the position advocated. It is the trial judge who has the primary responsibility of ensuring that defendant receives a fair trial. Whether the judge’s duty to excuse a prospective juror comes into play is determined by the factual context of each case. The following factors should be taken into consideration in determining whether the judge should sua sponte excuse a prospective juror: (1) juror expresses unequivocal bias which would affect the ability of the juror to be fair; (2) there is no reason to doubt the credibility of that expression of bias; (3) the expression of an inability to be fair has not been rehabilitated; and (4) neither trial counsel exercises a peremptory challenge or challenge for cause regarding the potential juror. In the factual context of this case, regarding the questionable juror, I believe that the record reflects an unequivocal expression of an inability to be fair; no reason to doubt the credibility of that expression; no rehabilitation of that expression; and no trial counsel challenge to the juror. The right to a fair jury is the cornerstone of a criminal justice system which produces reliable results. The trial judge is the gatekeeper of that jury with the duty to conduct a voir dire aimed at providing jurors free from bias or prejudice in order to maintain the integrity of the criminal justice system. Under the specific facts of this case, where the potential juror expressed unequivocally that she was biased and that this bias would affect her ability to be fair, the trial judge had a sua sponte duty to excuse the juror based on the defendant’s basic right under the federal and state constitutions to a fair trial by an impartial jury. The failure to excuse the juror thwarted selection of an impartial jury and constituted an abuse of discretion.