Green v. State

272 S.E.2d 475, 246 Ga. 598, 1980 Ga. LEXIS 1221
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedOctober 7, 1980
Docket36115
StatusPublished
Cited by60 cases

This text of 272 S.E.2d 475 (Green v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Green v. State, 272 S.E.2d 475, 246 Ga. 598, 1980 Ga. LEXIS 1221 (Ga. 1980).

Opinions

Jordan, Presiding Justice.

Roosevelt Green, Jr., the appellant, was convicted and sentenced to death in Monroe County for the murder of Teresa Carol Allen, and the conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal by this court, Green v. State, 242 Ga. 261 (249 SE2d 1) (1978). The Supreme Court of the United States, however, reversed as to sentence and remanded the case for a new trial on said issue. Green v. Georgia, 442 U. S. 95 (99 SC 2150, 60 LE2d 738) (1979); remand 244 Ga. 27 (257 SE2d 543) (1979) (The United States Supreme Court reversed the sentence on the sole ground that a conversation between co-defendant Moore and Thomas Pasby was excluded during the pre-sentence hearing).

At the new sentencing trial, at which Pasby testified, the jury again returned a verdict for the death sentence, and the case is presently before this court for mandatory review of the same. Code. Ann. § 27-2537. The facts surrounding the death of the victim, including the statement of Thomas Pasby, are amply set out in Green v. State, supra, and its companion case, Moore v. State, 240 Ga. 807 (243 SE2d 1) (1978) and will not be repeated here.

Enumerations of Error

1. Appellant contends that the trial court’s denial of his motion for a change of venue violated his right to an impartial jury. The appellant notes that there was widespread pre-trial publicity such that every prospective juror had heard about the case.

We note, howeiver, that while each prospective juror had heard something about the case, each prospective juror not struck for prejudice expressly indicated that he or she could lay aside any opinion that he or she had formed and render a sentence based upon the evidence. Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U. S. 717 (81 SC 1639, 6 LE2d 751) (1960); Collier v. State, 244 Ga. 553 (261 SE2d 364) (1979); Tucker v. State, 244 Ga. 721 (261 SE2d 635) (1979).

We note further that only seventeen of the sixty-four veniremen were excused for cause, and that only four of the seventeen were excused for prejudice.

This low percentage of veniremen excused for prejudice (approximately 5%) strongly corroborates the expression of impartiality by the other jurors not so excused. Murphy v. Florida, 421 U. S. 794 (95 SC 1555, 43 LE2d 772) (1974); Tucker v. State, supra (5% dismissal rate corroborates absence of prejudicial bias); Collier v. State, supra (20% dismissal rate corroborates absence of prejudicial bias); Coleman v. State, 237 Ga. 84 (226 SE2d 911) (1976) [599]*599(49% dismissal rate corroborates absence of prejudicial bias); Butler v. State, 231 Ga. 276 (201 SE2d 448) (1973) (cert. den. 420 U. S. 907 (1974) (36% dismissal rate corroborates absence of prejudicial community bias; cf, Irvin v. Dowd, supra (1960) (62% dismissal rate corroborates actual juror partiality).

We note finally that the evidence shows only one recent newspaper article concerning the appellant. Eighteen pages of exhibits concern articles published during the first trial — that is, two years prior to resentencing, and three pages of exhibits concern the United States Supreme Court’s reversal of sentence. There is no evidence of a “total inundation of the judicial process by the media.” Estes v. Texas, 381 U. S. 532 (85 SC 1628, 14 LE2d 543) (1965); Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U. S. 333 (86 SC 1507, 16 LE2d 600) (1966).

Furthermore, the appellant failed to exhaust all of his peremptory challenges. Coleman v. State, supra; Davis v. State, 241 Ga. 376 (247 SE2d 45) (1978).

This enumeration of error is without merit.

2. Appellant contends that the trial judge erred in failing to grant his challenge to the array. He.asserts that sixty of the traverse jurors serving in the present case had served in the August term of the Monroe County Superior Court and that their service in the present case therefore violated Code Ann. § 59-803. The present trial, however, began on November 5, 1979, which was still within the August term of the Monroe County Superior Court. The jurors were properly summoned (Code Ann. § 24-3009). Also, the mere fact of prior jury service is no basis for a challenge to the array. See Harris v. State, 191 Ga. 243, (12 SE2d 64) (1940); Dickerson v. State, 151 Ga. App. 429 (260 SE2d 535) (1979). Finally, we note that the appellant cannot complain that his jury panel did not represent a cross-section of the community; as there was no showing that the August jury list or the panels put upon the appellant were constitutionally inadequate. Appellant’s second enumeration of error is without merit.

3. The appellant argues that the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to question each prospective juror on voir dire outside of the presence of the other jurors, and, in refusing to allow him to use written juror information forms to obtain extensive background information on each juror.

Such matters are necessarily within the sound discretion of the trial court. Finney v. State, 242 Ga. 582 (250 SE2d 388) (1978). The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the appellant’s motion. This enumeration is without merit.

4. Appellant contends that jurors were removed for cause in violation of the Witherspoon rule. The responses of the excluded jurors, however, clearly established that they would automatically [600]*600vote against the imposition of the death penalty regardless of the facts and circumstances of the case. Their exclusion by the trial court was not error. Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U. S. 510 (88 SC 1770, 20 LE2d 776) (1968); Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U. S. 586 (98 SC 2954, 57 LE2d 973) (1978).

Appellant’s additional argument that irrespective of Witherspoon such exclusions deprived him of a representative cross-section of the community is also without merit. Bowen v. State, 244 Ga. 495 (260 SE2d 909) (1979).

5. The appellant argues that the trial court erred in not striking for prejudice two prospective jurors, the first of whom had been a spectator not only at the appellant’s previous trial, but also at the trial of his co-defendant, Moore, and the second of whom was a secretary in the law firm that had represented the appellant’s co-defendant. While the second juror had formed his opinion as to guilt, neither juror had formed an opinion as to sentence.

Appellant had been tried and convicted of the crime of murder. The sole question to be tried was that of punishment. Since neither juror had any opinion as to sentence, neither was subject to a challenge for prejudice. Code Ann. §§ 59-804, 59-806 and 59-807. Appellant’s fifth enumeration of error is without merit.

6. Appellant complains that the five armed deputies present in the courtroom conveyed to the jury that the defendant was dangerous in violation of his right to an impartial jury. We do not agree.

The appellant was a convicted murderer with a record of escape. The courtroom contained numerous doors and windows.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
272 S.E.2d 475, 246 Ga. 598, 1980 Ga. LEXIS 1221, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-v-state-ga-1980.