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State v. Miller6/1/2000
the facts of the case, a reasonable person in his or her position could not be impartial. State v. Kiernan, 227 Wis. 2d 736, 745, 596 N.W.2d 760 (1999). This is Miller's primary argument.
. As indicated above, we review the circuit court's determination of the presence or absence of objective bias under a discretionary standard, Faucher, 227 Wis. 2d at 719, and will reverse its ruling only if, as a matter of law, no reasonable judge could have reached such a conclusion. Id. at 721; Kiernan, 227 Wis. 2d at 745. The court's discretionary determinations are not tested by some subjective standard, or even by our own sense of what might be a "right" or "wrong" decision in the case, but rather will stand unless it can be said that no reasonable judge, acting on the same facts and underlying law, could reach the same conclusion. State v. Jeske, 197 Wis. 2d 905, 914, 541 N.W.2d 225 (Ct. App. 1995). And " ecause the exercise of discretion is so essential to the trial court's functioning, we generally look for reasons to sustain discretionary decisions." (Citations omitted.) Burkes v. Hales, 165 Wis. 2d 585, 591, 478 N.W.2d 37 (Ct. App. 1991).
. The deferential standard of review we apply to discretionary decisions of the circuit courts is particularly relevant in juror disqualification cases. Indeed, the supreme court has said that, in such cases, the juror's bias-"or circuit court error"-must be "manifest" before it may be overturned. State v. Ferron, 219 Wis. 2d 481, 496-97, 579 N.W.2d 654 (1998). "[This] is appropriate," said the court,
because the circuit court has the opportunity to observe the prospective juror's attitude and disposition during the voir dire examination. To the contrary, the appellate courts which attempt to make their own assessments of a prospective juror's impartiality must do so from the cold, typewritten words of an appellate record. the manner of the juror while testifying is oftentimes more indicative of the real character of his [or her] opinion than his [or her] words. That is seen below, but cannot always be spread upon the record. Id. at 497 (quotation marks and quoted sources omitted).
. In this case, the circuit court spent considerable time inquiring into Haugrud's (and her husband's) acquaintance with Stittleburg and, in the end, determined that she could live up to her promise to decide the case fairly and impartially and denied Miller's request to disqualify her for cause. We have discussed much of that colloquy above. On this record-and in light of the law we have discussed above-we cannot say that no reasonable judge could make that same determination.
By the Court. -- Judgment affirmed.
This case will not be published. See Wis. Stat. Rule 809.23(1)(b)4.
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