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State v. Golphin8/25/2000
selection or the manner in which the trial court placed prospective jurors into panels. Thus, defendants have waived review of the constitutionality of the trial court's actions. See Nobles, 350 N.C. at 495, 515 S.E.2d at 893.
Although defendants failed to object at trial, we review the alleged statutory violation. N.C.G.S. § 15A-1214(a) provides: "The clerk, under the supervision of the presiding judge, must call jurors from the panel by a system of random selection which precludes advance knowledge of the identity of the next juror to be called." N.C.G.S. § 15A-1214(a) (1999). A challenge to a jury panel: (1) "May be made only on the ground that the jurors were not selected or drawn according to law"; (2) "Must be in writing"; (3) "Must specify the facts constituting the ground of challenge"; and (4) "Must be made and decided before any juror is examined." N.C.G.S. § 15A-1211(c) (1999); see also State v. Workman, 344 N.C. 482, 498-99, 476 S.E.2d 301, 310 (1996) (where this Court found no merit in the defendant's assignment of error " n light of the fact that defendant failed to follow the procedures clearly set out for jury panel challenges and further failed, in any manner, to alert the trial court to the alleged improprieties"). Defendants in the instant case failed to comply with N.C.G.S. § 15A-1211(c) to challenge the panels; therefore, as this Court found in Workman, defendants have waived review of their assignments of error.
However, assuming, without deciding, that the trial court violated N.C.G.S. § 15A-1214(a), defendants cannot show prejudicial error. The facts surrounding this issue tended to show that the trial court informed both Kevin and Tilmon of its intention to place the prospective jurors into panels for jury selection. The trial court stated:
I will hear from the state and the defendants as to each of the [hardship] requests, will rule on those. Then from those left, the court -- the clerk will draw names and put them into panels. There will be thirty panels. The panels probably will not be of equal number. But the jurors will be randomly drawn and put into the thirty panels.
During jury selection, there were three prospective jurors whose hardship excuses were denied or who did not appear when called and who were placed into specific panels by the trial court. Defendants assigned error to such placement.
First, prospective juror Lance Peedin requested a hardship excuse because he did not have transportation to the courthouse. The trial court suggested placing Peedin in panel number thirty "because if worse came to absolute worse, we could provide him transportation." The trial court asked if anyone had a problem with placing Peedin in panel number thirty; counsel for both defendants responded, "No, sir." Peedin was never called to be questioned for inclusion on the jury.
Second, prospective juror Ronald Harris requested a hardship excuse because he was starting a new job as a deputy sheriff and would have to take unpaid days off to serve. The trial court denied the request and placed Harris into panel number thirty. After some courtroom discussion, Kevin's counsel stated, "We could be out of peremptories by group thirty." Harris was never called to be questioned for inclusion on the jury.
Lastly, prospective juror Jeffrey Beasley, who was selected to be in panel number two, did not appear in court when called. Beasley later informed the court that his work obligations prevented him from coming. The court listed the alternatives of how to respond to Beasley's absence: "move him to a later panel" or "go get him." Tilmon's counsel stated, "I guess on behalf of Tilmon Golphin, we're satisfied if you move hi
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