Court Opinion

ID: 9584685
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:51:39.374169+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:13:21.577496
License: Public Domain

Justice BRADY
concurring.
While I concur in the Court’s opinion, I write separately to emphasize how important it is for our trial courts to exercise the greatest of care in protecting a defendant’s fundamental right to be tried by an impartial jury. Within the outer limits of a trial court’s discretion there are prudential lines which serve as cautionary barriers to alert a trial court of a potential abuse of discretion. These lines were not heeded by the trial court in this case.
So fundamental to the jurisprudence of the Anglosphere is the right to a trial by jury that it is set forth in the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, Article III of the United States Constitution, the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and in the Constitution of North Carolina. See, e.g., U.S. Const. amend. VI (“In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury . . . .”). Undoubtedly, trial courts represent the first line in the defense of this right in our adversarial system and are therefore granted broad discretion in ruling upon a juror’s ability to remain fair and impartial to both the State and defendant. See State v. Lee, 292 N.C. 617, 621, 234 S.E.2d 574, 577 (1977) (“Unquestionably the trial judge is vested with broad discretionary powers in determining the competency of jurors and that discretion will not ordinarily be disturbed on appeal.” (citations omitted)); State v. Watson, 281 N.C. 221, 227, 188 S.E.2d 289, 293 (1972) (“The question of the competency of jurors is a matter within the trial judge’s discretion, and his rulings thereon are not subject to review on appeal unless accompanied by some imputed error of law.” (citations omitted)), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1043 (1972).
*308It is troubling, however, that the trial court in this case traveled perilously close to the outer limits of its discretion when prudence would have suggested a more conservative course of action. My review of the record indicates that the. challenged juror had been married for twenty years to a sergeant with the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office, was the elected sheriff’s niece by marriage, was well acquainted with one of the assistant district attorneys prosecuting the case because she would have lunch in the lawyer’s lounge with her husband and him, personally knew the bailiff and one of the law enforcement officers testifying for the State, and likely knew other witnesses for the State and numerous other members of the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office. Additionally, the prospective juror would generally allow her husband to talk about his work at home in order “to release pressure on him.” Moreover, as the Court’s opinion acknowledges, the juror’s responses during voir dire appear from the record to have been less than steadfast, such as when she stated “I’ll try to be as fair as I could.”
The record also reflects that the trial court stated no express reason to deny defendant’s motion to dismiss the juror for cause, nor did the trial court state any reason for denying defendant’s motion seeking an additional peremptory challenge. While the trial court’s failure to articulate its analysis, in itself, does not reflect an abuse of discretion, such a statement would have provided added assurance that these rulings rested upon the thoughtful consideration of the trial court and were not made hastily and without reason.
Of course, prudence would have dictated that the trial court allow defendant’s motion to strike the juror for cause, since a failure to do so has needlessly placed the jury verdict in dispute on appeal. From our understanding about basic human nature ever since the fall of mankind in Genesis 3, we know that an individual who more closely identifies with one side of a case will likely have difficulty rendering a fair and impartial verdict. Our trial courts should not pit an individual against fallen human nature, even when the individual is committed to the duty of impartiality.
Thus, though it did not go so far as to abuse its discretion, the trial court unnecessarily caused this issue to come before the Court on appeal by failing to follow the dictates of prudence. Accordingly, while I concur fully in the result of the majority opinion, I would urge trial courts in the future to act out of an abundance of caution to protect a right so critical to our system of justice. The people should *309expect nothing less from the courts of this state than the vigilant defense of an accused’s right to be tried by an impartial jury.