Court Opinion

ID: 9766773
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:58:32.800503+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:25.938566
License: Public Domain

FINCH, Judge
(concurring).
I concur in the principal opinion with the understanding that the actual basis on which defendant’s first assignment of error on appeal is overruled is that the record as presented to us does not show that juror Pistone was disqualified as a matter of law.
The fact that Pistone’s father had been shot in a robbery was not in and of itself a basis for challenging him for cause. Even if he had spoken up on the voir dire and told of the incident, that alone would not have disqualified him. Only if further questioning had disclosed that he was prejudiced as a result and could not render a fair and impartial verdict would defendant have been entitled to challenge him for cause.
Even though this did not occur on the voir dire (Pistone not having mentioned the incident), there still was an opportunity for defendant on the hearing on the motion for new trial to show actual prejudice on Pistone’s part sufficient to disqualify him as a juror. See Beggs v. Universal C. I. T. Credit Corp., Mo., 387 S.W.2d 499, and Rinkenbaugh v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. Co., Mo., 446 S.W.2d 623. If such testimony had been offered on the motion for new trial, the trial court would have determined (the same as he would have done on voir dire) whether in his judgment and discretion the evidence disclosed that the juror was prejudiced. Since there has been no showing on the record presented to us of any prejudice on the part of juror Pistone, no basis has been shown for challenging him for cause and defendant is not entitled to a new trial on this basis.