Court Opinion

ID: 9520763
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:49:16.980721+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:46:50.983621
License: Public Domain

ANN WALSH BRADLEY, J.
¶ 61. {dissenting).
What I want to stress is the importance of this case. I think that this is the most important case that I have ever had. I haven't been a lawyer forever, about 15 years at this, but this is by far the most important case I've ever had. This case affects not only criminal cases, but it affects civil cases. We're talking about the finality of verdicts.
¶ 62. As noted by the assistant attorney general at oral argument, the important issue in this case affects the finality of verdicts. In addressing the issue of the appropriate standard of appellate review of a circuit court's determination that a prospective juror can be impartial, the majority concludes that the manifest bias standard should be applied. While I agree with the standard adopted by the majority, as it acknowledges a circuit court's more advantageous posi*509tion for evaluating a voir dire, I believe the majority errs in the application of the standard in this case.
I.
¶ 63. An appellate court may overturn a circuit court's determination of juror impartiality only where a review of the record shows that a juror's bias is "manifest." See State v. Louis, 156 Wis. 2d 470, 478-79, 457 N.W.2d 484 (1990). In interpreting this language, the majority adopts the test for manifest bias offered by the State. That test indicates that manifest bias will not exist where the record shows that a prospective juror is a reasonable person who is sincerely willing to put aside an opinion or prior knowledge and that a reasonable person in the juror's position could set aside the opinion or prior knowledge.
¶ 64. While I agree with the test adopted by the majority, I disagree with the court's application of that test here. In reversing the circuit court, the majority claims that the record does not indicate that the challenged juror in this case, Metzler, was sincerely willing to put aside his potential bias against a defendant that does not testify. However, this is not a case where the record indicates that a potential juror refused to put aside a procedural bias. This is also not a case where the circuit court ignored counsel's concern about a potential juror. Rather, this is a case where, based on extensive questioning, legal instruction, and first-hand assessment of Metzler's comments, the circuit court determined that the juror was willing to put aside his bias.
¶ 65. In exercising appellate review over decisions effectively requiring a credibility determination of a prospective juror, this court must acknowledge that a cold record cannot adequately convey indicia of *510sincerity. The reason for this is simple: you cannot talk sincerity, you communicate sincerity. Appellate review of the record by and large is limited to a review of the talk. The communication available for the circuit court to assess includes seeing the body language, hearing the inflection, experiencing the hesitancy, pauses, or certainty of the statement.
¶ 66. The record indicates that Metzler expressed doubts about the defendant's motivations in failing to testify. In response, defense counsel and the circuit court instructed the voir dire pool on the defendant's constitutional rights. The circuit court then asked if Metzler was "willing to set those [doubts] aside for the purpose of this case and follow the law?" Metzler replied, "Well, I would certainly try to set it aside."
¶ 67. After further questioning of another prospective juror, the court advised that "[t]he thing you have to do is not use that against the defendant. You have to decide the case on the evidence as it comes out in the court room, not things that didn't happen. That's the point. Can you do did [sic] that?" Metzler responded, "Probably." When defense counsel asked the court to remove Metzler from the jury pool, the court stated, "I'm not removing Mr. Metzler. He said he could do that."
¶ 68. Based on this colloquy, and focusing particularly on Metzler's use of the word "Probably," the majority determines that Metzler maintained a manifest bias against the defendant. In so doing, the majority violates its own test. The majority emphasizes that evaluating a prospective juror's sincerity is best left to the circuit court and declares that there are no magical words or "affirmative[ ] state[ments]" that a juror need make to indicate impartiality, and that there is no "definitive test which draws the line *511between those answers which are acceptable and those which are not. . . ." Majority op. at 501-02 n.9. Yet, based on one word, "Probably," the majority reverses the circuit court's first-hand evaluation of the prospective juror's ability to judge the defendant impartially.
¶ 69. In reaching this conclusion, the majority requires that which it disclaims — a definitive affirmative statement indicating that the potential juror is able and willing to set aside any bias against a defendant who does not testify. Yet, faced with a daunting and legalistic question like, "Can you put aside all bias," I submit that the average voir dire participant will respond with a qualified affirmative instead of the unambiguous declaration that the majority seems to require.
¶ 70. The majority asserts that Metzler's response that he "probably" could base his decision solely on the evidence leaves the court with an equivocation. The majority concludes that the response is "insufficient to indicate a sincere willingness to set aside his or her bias. . . ." Majority op. at 501. Such a conclusion is incorrect. Contrary to the majority's discomfort with Metzler's "probably," no precedent of this court indicates that "probably" is unacceptable equivocation.
¶ 71. Our jurisprudence is replete with examples in which we rely on a standard of probability: we make arrests, issue warrants and commit individuals to mental institutions upon a showing of probable cause; the opinion of an expert founded upon a reasonable degree of probability is a sufficient basis upon which to award millions of dollars in complex cases. Yet, the majority disparages a juror's use of "probably," and on that basis elevates its assessment of a prospective juror's sincerity above that of the circuit court.
*512¶ 72. In an attempt to narrow the scope of its conclusion, the majority makes its result dependent upon the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, even going so far as to state that "our decision in this case may have been different — given the same record — had Metzler exhibited a bias which did not conflict with such an essential constitutional right." Majority op. at 502. While I acknowledge the importance of the Fifth Amendment, the majority's reliance upon it to justify its result in this case appears to be an arbitrary exercise. It precludes circuit courts from eliciting any guidance whatsoever from the majority analysis which could serve to explain why the majority overrules the circuit court's decision in this case.1
¶ 73. The majority opinion leaves circuit courts and appellate courts with no guidance as they venture to guess what this majority will deem sufficient in future cases. Compounding this lack of direction is the severity of the consequences if they guess incorrectly — jeopardizing the finality of verdicts.
¶ 74. The circuit courts and appellate courts are left to wonder if the word "probably" is sufficient. Initially, discussion in the majority opinion seems to suggest it would not be sufficient. Yet, the opinion subsequently equivocates and suggests it "may" be *513sufficient if there is no conflict with "such a constitutional right." Courts will be left to wonder: why should a Fifth Amendment constitutional right be elevated above and considered more essential than other constitutional rights?
¶ 75. In holding the Fifth Amendment up for special treatment in the voir dire analysis solely to justify the court's errant conclusion, the majority opinion ignores the more encompassing fundamental constitutional right with which this case really deals — the defendant's right to a fair trial. Because courts must act to preserve the defendant's constitutional right to a fair trial, whether the alleged bias against the defendant is based on personal attributes such as race or on legal attributes such as the defendant's invocation of the Fifth Amendment, exaltation of the Fifth Amendment considerations over other aspects of the fair trial constitutional guarantee appears, and is, arbitrary.
¶ 76. The majority also missteps when it concludes that it is in a better position than is the circuit court to assess a prospective juror's credibility and sincerity. We should reserve imposing our own view of the record to those cases where the circuit court's interpretation has no support in the record or where the circuit court ignores its duties. Accordingly, I dissent from the majority's conclusion that the circuit court as a matter of law erroneously exercised its discretion.
II.
¶ 77. Additionally, I note that this court is again faced with reversing a conviction based on State v. Ramos, 211 Wis. 2d 12, 564 N.W.2d 328 (1997). The court takes this action not because the defendant has demonstrated that the jury impaneled in his criminal case was anything other than fair and impartial, but *514rather because of Ramos' ruling that the "trial court's failure to dismiss the challenged juror for cause effectively deprived [the defendant] of the right to exercise all seven of his statutorily granted peremptory challenges." Ramos, 211 Wis. 2d at 24.
¶ 78. As the dissent in Ramos succinctly noted, statutory peremptory challenges exist not to allow defendants to randomly shuffle a jury pool in their favor, but rather to ensure the impaneling of an impartial jury as a component of our constitutional guarantee of a fair trial. See Ramos, 211 Wis. 2d at 33 (Crooks, J. dissenting)(citing Georgia v. McCollum, 505 U.S. 42, 57 (1992) and Ross v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 81 (1988)). When a defendant exercises a peremptory challenge to strike a juror who should have been excused by the court for cause, the defendant also acts to ensure that an unbiased trier of fact considers the case.
¶ 79. However, under Ramos, even where the defendant has failed to establish that a jury panel was anything other than fair and impartial, the defendant's conviction must be reversed if the defendant was forced to use a peremptory challenge to excuse a juror who should have been excused for cause. See Ramos, 211 Wis. 2d at 24-25. Such a result seems contrary to a significant body of Wisconsin case law. See State v. Traylor, 170 Wis. 2d 393, 489 N.W.2d 626 (Ct. App. 1992); Bergman v. Hendrickson, 106 Wis. 434, 82 N.W. 304 (1900); Pool v. Milwaukee Mechanics' Ins. Co., 94 Wis. 447, 69 N.W. 65 (1896); Carthaus v. State, 78 Wis. 560, 47 N.W. 629 (1891).
¶ 80. Although Ramos is a recent decision of this court, its rationale is no more correct today than it was one year ago when it was decided. While I agree that the doctrine of stare decisis deserves great weight in *515our jurisprudence, it seems incongruous to refuse to reconsider the decision solely on stare decisis grounds when, as noted above, Ramos itself disregarded a line of precedent spanning over a century in reaching its conclusion. While I acknowledge that it is currently controlling authority, I continue to believe Ramos was incorrectly decided.
¶ 81. I am authorized to state that JANINE P. GESKE, J. joins Part I of this opinion.

 The majority confuses this point, alleging that the dissents are internally inconsistent. The majority also mistakenly equates a call for guidance with a request for a bright-line rule. I espouse no bright-line "magic" words. Quite to the contrary, I continue to strongly believe that the circuit courts are best left to assess the sincerity of a prospective juror. However, if the majority is going to take the ill-advised tactic of usurping the circuit court's entirely acceptable decision in this case, then the majority must provide our courts with some sort of guidance by which to examine future cases.