 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Biegenwald3/5/1987
R>
B.
The primary issue generated by the extensive adverse pretrial publicity is whether this publicity was such that it jeopardized defendant's constitutional right to trial by a fair and impartial jury. In dealing with this kind of issue in the context of a capital murder prosecution, we have stressed the need, under our State Constitution, for a strict standard that would be fully protective of a defendant's significant jury rights in light of the importance of the interest at stake. State v. Williams, 93 N.J. 39 (1983).
The majority asserts that our review in this case is circumscribed because defendant, on this appeal, makes no complaint about the voir dire or about the trial court's rulings on his challenges for cause, and because defense counsel failed to renew his motion for change of venue at the conclusion of the voir dire. I would not find any bar to our consideration of this important issue because defendant may not have made a clear or continuing objection to the trial court's rulings. After all, "a life is at stake" and we will not pause "in the interest of justice to invoke the plain error rule . . . and to reverse where the trial errors were impregnated with the likelihood of having harmed the substantial rights of the defendant." State v. Mount, 30 N.J. 195, 213 (1959).
The Supreme Court has recognized that the denial of the right to a fair trial by an impartial jury can involve two kinds of cases. One consists of situations in which the defendant must demonstrate actual prejudice in the jury. See, e.g., Patton v. Yount, 467 U.S. 1025, 104 S. Ct. 2885, 81 L. Ed. 2d 847 (1984); Dobbert v. Florida, 432 U.S. 282, 97 S. Ct. 2290, 53 L. Ed. 2d 344 (1977); Murphy v. Florida, 421 U.S. 794, 95 S. Ct. 2031, 44 L. Ed. 2d 589 (1975); Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 81 S. Ct. 1639, 6 L. Ed. 2d 751 (1961); Stroble v. California, 343 U.S. 181, 72 S. Ct. 599, 96 L. Ed. 872 (1952). The other involves cases in which the community or trial atmosphere is so corrupted by detrimental publicity that prejudice is inferred. See, e.g., Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333, 86 S. Ct. 1507, 16 L. Ed. 2d 600 (1966); Estes v. Texas, 381 U.S. 532, 85 S. Ct. 1628, 14 L. Ed. 2d 543 (1965); Turner v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 466, 85 S. Ct. 546, 13 L. Ed. 2d 424 (1965); Rideau v. Louisiana, 373 U.S. 723, 83 S. Ct. 1417, 10 L. Ed. 2d 663 (1963); Marshall v. United States, 360 U.S. 310, 79 S. Ct. 1171, 3 L. Ed. 2d 1250 (1959).
Our own test does not require a showing of actual prejudicial taint. This test is reflected in State v. Williams, supra, 93 N.J. 39, in which we ruled that the publicity must be such as to create the "realistic likelihood" that the defendant cannot obtain a fair trial before impartial jurors. The Court in Williams
considered the right of the press to attend the pretrial bail and probable cause hearing of the defendants charged with capital murder, as against the defendants' rights to a fair trial and impartial jury. The issue posed was whether the adverse publicity that would result from press access to such pretrial proceedings would irreparably impair the defendants' right to be tried by an impartial jury. We ruled that the standard for this determination is whether "the trial court is clearly satisfied that there is a realistic likelihood that the defendant's right to an impartial jury will be threatened by adverse publicity emanating from an open pretrial proceeding." Id. at 63.
In Williams, the Court was not required to determine the actual effect of adverse pretrial publicity. I
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 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 New Jersey DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|