 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. House2/24/1999
nion of the Court of Appeals. House's arguments cannot be so summarily dismissed. Because of the highly contentious evidence in the record, as well as the disparity of opinion among, not only the parties, but members of the judiciary, we must comprehensively analyze whether voir dire was essential to determining the reasonable probability of a fair trial in Taos. We conclude that differentiating actual and presumptive prejudice is useful in evaluating the parameters of Section 38-3-6. As discussed below, New Mexico's venue statutes require a different standard of proof than would be required in federal courts under the presumptive prejudice standard. Based upon New Mexico venue laws, we conclude, contrary to the arguments of House and the majority of the Court of Appeals, that the trial court's implicit finding of presumed prejudice in Taos County is supported by substantial evidence. See House Majority, 1998-NMCA-018, 26.<BR>
B. Proof of Actual Prejudice Is Not Required
{50} House contends that the trial court should have permitted a venue change from Taos County only if actual prejudice had been established. He urges that, in this particular case, the only way the trial court could have established that the venue was hopelessly prejudiced was to attempt to seat a jury by conducting voir dire. Only if interviews with actual potential jurors revealed an extreme level of prejudice would a change of venue be justified.
{51} When courts address actual prejudice, the often quoted inquiry, from Patton v. Yount, 467 U.S. 1025, 1035 (1984), is whether the jurors "had such fixed opinions that they could not Judge impartially the guilt of the defendant." See, e.g., State v. Hernandez, 115 N.M. 6, 21, 846 P.2d 312, 327 (1993). Given the state of modern communications, it is not only unnecessary, but realistically impossible to expect jurors to be totally ignorant of the facts and issues of a case. Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333, 362 (1966) (discussing "the pervasiveness of modern communications"). Thus, we make a distinction "between mere familiarity with petitioner or his past and an actual preDisposition against him." Murphy v. Florida, 421 U.S. 794, 800 n.4 (1975).
{52} Voir dire is one way of establishing the existence of fixed opinions in the minds of potential jurors. See State v. Chamberlain, 112 N.M. 723, 726, 819 P.2d 673, 676 (1991) ("The court determined through voir dire that the jurors, although they may have heard of the case, were not incapable of impartiality. More is not required."). In voir dire the court will determine whether prospective jurors will be able to reach a verdict based solely "on evidence received in open court, not from outside sources." Sheppard, 384 U.S. at 351. Voir dire establishes actual prejudice by exposing "the actual existence of such an opinion in the mind of the juror as will raise the presumption of partiality." Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145, 157 (1878).
{53} In Twohig we noted that in his first two trials "the court, attorneys for the State, and attorneys for House had used another tool to combat potential prejudice caused by pretrial publicity-extensive voir dire-which also was available for use in the third trial." Twohig, 1996-NMSC-023, 27. House interprets this dictum as a mandate that voir dire be conducted before a change of venue. However, this comment merely suggests that voir dire is one way of measuring prejudice caused by pretrial publicity in the jury selection process-especially with regard to statements by attorneys to the public media.
{54} While voir dire is essential in establishing actual prejudice, it is but one method by which the trial court may determ
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 New Mexico DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|