 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Bondurant3/20/1998
that being whether to impose the death penalty." Id. at 736, 112 S. Ct. at 2233.
In McQueen v. Scroggy, 99 F.3d 1302 (6th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, --- U.S. ---, 117 S. Ct. 2422 (1997), the court considered the issue of whether the petitioner was afforded the opportunity to question jurors adequately on their attitudes toward the death penalty and on whether they would impose it in every circumstance. As in the present case, the jurors in McQueen were questioned about whether they could accept and impose any penalty within the specified range after a determination of guilt had been made. Id. at 1329. In denying relief, the court stated:
A person who answers that he will consider every possible penalty, specifically including life imprisonment...is by virtue of that answering disclaiming the intent to impose the death penalty in every case. There are no magic words in these circumstances. Here the questions and answers disclose that the jurors were ready to consider each of the penalties that could be imposed, and that they were not predisposed to give only death or to act with leniency. It would be a game of semantics, not law, to conclude that the failure to phrase a question in a specific way is fatal where other questions are equally illuminating.
Id. at 1330.
We are persuaded by the reasoning set forth in McQueen. While voir dire may certainly be used to educate jurors on the sentencing process in a capital trial, the true purpose is to ensure that a fair and impartial jury is impaneled. As discussed later in this opinion, the trial court properly instructed the jury on the law at the sentencing hearing, and the jury is presumed to have followed the instructions of the court. State v. Woods, 806 S.W.2d 205, 211 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1990).
Under Morgan v. Illinois, 504 U.S. at 736, 112 S. Ct. at 2233, a defendant must be given the opportunity to determine whether a potential juror would automatically impose a death sentence upon conviction. We do not interpret this holding to mean that each juror must be asked if he or she would reserve the choice between punishments until after hearing and considering mitigating proof. The fact that a juror indicates he or she will consider both punishments disclaims the intent to impose the death penalty in every case and is sufficient to ensure that a fair and impartial jury has been impaneled.
By our opinion we do not mean to imply that trial courts, prosecutors, and defense attorneys should not take the opportunity to explain these concepts and question potential jurors whether they could reserve judgment until such time as proof of aggravating and mitigating circumstances has been presented at the sentencing hearing. Instead, we are merely holding that the question asked of each of the jurors was sufficient in this case.
Accordingly, because we find this issue to be without merit, the defendant's claim of ineffective assistance must also fail. As noted earlier, when a defendant seeks relief on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel, he must first establish that the services rendered or the advice given was below "the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases." Baxter, 523 S.W.2d at 936. Second, he must show that the deficiencies "actually had an adverse effect on the defense." Strickland, 466 U.S. at 693, 104 S. Ct. at 2067. There must be a reasonable probability that but for counsel's error, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S. Ct. at 2068; Best, 708 S.W.2d at 422. Should the defendant fail to establish either factor, he is not entitled to relief.
We cannot say that counsel's failure to ask po
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 59 60 61 Tennessee DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|