Court Opinion

ID: 9553012
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:20:28.993213+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:29:30.374368
License: Public Domain

*809BYE, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
Barraza has a fundamental right to a trial by a fair and impartial jury. See U.S. Const. amend. VI; Matthews v. Lockhart, 726 F.2d 394, 397 (8th Cir.1984). Because I believe this right was violated, I respectfully dissent.
A juror is considered to be impartial “only if he can lay aside his opinion and render a verdict based on the evidence presented in court....” Patton v. Yount, 467 U.S. 1025, 1037 n. 12, 104 S.Ct. 2885, 81 L.Ed.2d 847 (1984); see also United States v. Wright, 340 F.3d 724, 733 (8th Cir.2003). As the majority correctly recites, “[a]n initial impression about a case does not disqualify a juror if the district court accepts the juror’s assurances that he or she will set aside any preconceived beliefs and follow the court’s instructions.” Ante at 803 (citing United States v. Blom, 242 F.3d 799, 806 (8th Cir.2001)).
I am at a loss, however, to see where in this record Juror 43 ever assured the district court that he would set aside his opinion and serve impartially and fairly. Juror 43 repeatedly stated he was unsure if he could set aside his views and serve fairly and impartially: “I couldn’t tell you how I would judge or not. I feel very strongly about that.”; “At this point I would try to be fair and judge the evidence but [my personal life, the fact I have children,] might [affect me], I don’t know. I couldn’t honestly tell you. I couldn’t stand here and tell you yes or no.”
Not once did Juror 43 affirmatively state he could or would serve fairly and impartially. In concluding otherwise, the majority mischaracterizes the record. In the section relied upon by the majority, Juror 43 was not “asked if he could listen to the evidence and follow the instructions of the court.” Ante at 803. He was in fact asked whether he would give it his “best effort” to listen to the evidence and follow the instructions of the court, to which he responded: “That is true, but I have very strong feelings.” (Emphasis added.) Significantly, at the conclusion of the dialogue, where defense counsel attempted to make the record clear by asking Juror 43 if his ability to fairly and impartially judge the case was affected, Juror 43 responded, ‘Yes, sir.” Juror 43 could not have been more clear that he was unable to serve fairly and impartially.
This is not the typical case where a juror expresses reservations and then opposing counsel or the district court rehabilitate him and the juror eventually unequivocally states he will serve fairly and impartially. See United States v. Blom, 242 F.3d 799, 805-06 (8th Cir.2001) (holding the district court did not abuse its discretion by failing to strike for cause a juror who, although she admitted she had followed pre-trial media accounts about the case, repeatedly stated she could put aside any impressions and opinions gained from the pretrial publicity and reach a verdict based only upon the evidence presented at trial).
Had the district court pushed Juror 43 and the juror finally given unequivocal assurances of fairness and impartiality that the court found credible, I likely would not object to the district court’s decision not to strike Juror 43 for cause because of the deference typically accorded the district court in assessing juror credibility. The district court, however, made no such effort to rehabilitate Juror 43. Indeed, the district court specifically noted its failure to rehabilitate Juror 43:
I almost asked some follow up questions but decided not to do it and it appeared to me that [Jurors 4, 5, 12, 23, and 43] had ignored my admonition that this defendant is presumed to be innocent and that they were prejudging him simply because a minor was involved and *810the factual situation was difficult and I was going to follow up with the question, “Are you saying that you could not be impartial in this case simply because there’s a minor involved even though you haven’t heard the evidence?” That would have been a good question but I didn’t do it....
Because Juror 43 was never rehabilitated, there is no basis for deference to the district court.
This case is like United States v. Sithithongtham, 192 F.3d 1119 (8th Cir.1999). In Sithithongtham, two jurors were questioned about their ability to fairly judge the testimony of a police officer. Id. at 1121. When asked whether their opinion of police officers would affect their ability to be fair and impartial, one juror stated, “I would probably give them the benefit of the doubt if something was questionable.” Id. The other juror stated, “I’m sure I could probably be fair and impartial.” Id. This Court held the district court abused its discretion by not striking these two jurors for cause:
A juror who “would probably give [law enforcement officers] the benefit of the doubt,” is not what we would consider impartial. Nor is a juror who “could probably be fair and impartial.” “Probably” is not good enough.
Id.; see also United States v. Nelson, 277 F.3d 164, 201 (2d Cir.2002); Thompson v. Altheimer & Gray, 248 F.3d 621 (7th Cir.2001); United States v. Gonzalez, 214 F.3d 1109, 1114 (9th Cir.2000).
Juror 43’s replies during voir dire in this case present an even stronger case for a lack of impartiality than the replies at issue in Sithithongtham: rather than “probably,” he affirmatively stated his ability to hear the case was affected. And there was no subsequent rehabilitation. Thus, the district court abused its discretion by not striking Juror 43 for cause. I therefore dissent.