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North Carolina v. Robinson10/3/1991
the opinion of the district attorney, individuals who are very active within their church tend to be lenient, more favorable to the defendant and not likely to give the State a fair and impartial trial; that Mr. N. was "deceptive" in failing to disclose on his jury questionnaire that he had been convicted in 1977 for carrying in excess of one gallon of liquor, indicating to the district attorney that Mr. N. would not be a fair and impartial juror; and that Mr. N. had served on at least two civil juries, which could produce confusion over the appropriate burden of proof to be applied.
The fourth black prospective juror to be peremptorily challenged by the State was M.P. Ms. P. said she was not sure if she could consider the death penalty as a possible punishment for this case, and that she would vote for life imprisonment if it were an option. Defense counsel was able to rehabilitate her, and the State's challenge for cause was denied. Ms. P. also had been questioned recently as a suspect in a possible theft and forgery of a housing authority check by Detective McNeil, the State's chief investigator and witness in the case on trial. Yet, Ms. P. did not mention her knowledge of Detective McNeil when asked on her jury questionnaire whether she knew the named witnesses. The district attorney argued that Ms. P.'s failure to acknowledge Detective
McNeil and the fact that she had been recently interviewed as a possible suspect in a felony "would limit her ability to be fair and impartial to the state."
Prospective juror J.K. was the final black juror peremptorily challenged by the State. The district attorney stated that Ms. K. was challenged because she had indicated on her jury questionnaire that she had never been a criminal defendant or a witness in a criminal case, despite convictions of driving under the influence in 1982 and a stop sign violation in 1983. The district attorney argued that this "deception" indicated that Ms. K. would not be a fair and impartial juror.
Defendant argues that after accepting the first black prospective juror available to the State, the district attorney peremptorily challenged every black potential juror not excused for cause. Defendant also argues that the State accepted some white veniremen with the same or similar backgrounds to black jurors who were excluded. For example, the defendant argues that the State accepted several white jurors who were active in their churches, yet excused Mr. N. for being active in his church.
While it is proper for a trial judge to consider whether similarly situated whites are accepted as jurors, defendant's approach in this case, like that taken by the defendant in Porter, "involves finding a single factor among several articulated by the prosecutor . . . and matching it to a passed juror who exhibited that same factor." State v. Porter, 326 N.C. at 501, 391 S.E.2d at 152. This approach "fails to address the factors as a totality which when considered together provide an image of a juror considered . . . undesirable by the State." Id.
When considered in this light, we believe the State has met its burden of coming forward with neutral, nonracial explanations for each peremptory challenge. Among other factors, three potential jurors failed to reveal past criminal histories as required by the jury questionnaire; a fourth juror did not admit she was acquainted with the State's chief investigator and witness; and a fifth juror had previously testified for her husband in a manslaughter case prosecuted by Guilford County prosecutors.
Defendant acknowledges in his brief that he did not introduce evidence to rebut the State's e
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 North Carolina DUI Attorneys
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