McKee v. State

308 S.E.2d 574, 168 Ga. App. 214, 1983 Ga. App. LEXIS 3385

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: September 8, 1983
• Docket: 66181
• Status: Published

Opinions

Shulman, Chief Judge.

In this appeal from his conviction for sodomy, appellant contends that the trial court erred in refusing to disqualify a prospective juror and in ruling that the youthful victim was competent to testify.

1. One of the prospective jurors examined on voir dire was the wife of the detective who transcribed appellant’s statement during his interrogation at the sheriffs office and swore to the affidavit which supported the warrant for appellant’s arrest. When the trial judge refused to disqualify the juror, appellant used one of his peremptory strikes to remove her from the jury. All of appellant’s strikes were used before a jury was finally selected. Since it is clear that requiring a criminal defendant to use one of his peremptory challenges to excuse a juror who should have been excused for cause is harmful error (Bradham v. State, 243 Ga. 638 (256 SE2d 331)), this issue turns on a determination of whether the trial court should have disqualified the juror.

“The state or the accused may make any of the following objections to the juror: ... (4) That he is so near of kin to the prosecutor, the accused, or the victim as to disqualify him by law from serving on the jury.” OCGA § 15-12-163 (b) (Code Ann. § 59-804). “A prosecutor is one who instigates a prosecution by making an affidavit charging a named person with the commission of a penal offense, on which a warrant is issued or an indictment or accusation is based. [Cit.]” Eady v. State, 10 Ga. App. 818 (1) (74 SE 303).

It follows from the authorities quoted above that the wife of the detective who interrogated appellant and swore out a warrant for appellant’s arrest should have been disqualified. The state argues, however, that the Supreme Court’s ruling in Spence v. State, 238 Ga. (233 SE2d 363), requires that other factors, such as the detective’s lack of participation in the trial of the case and the absence of the detective’s name from the space on the presentment marked “Prosecutor,” be given precedence in the decision as to whether the detective was the prosecutor. We do not read Spence so broadly. The Supreme Court did not abrogate the rule set forth above; it merely distinguished on their facts cases applying the rule. Conspicuously absent from the facts stated in Spence was any mention of an affidavit in support of an arrest warrant. We are aware of no case, and the state has cited us to none, in which the person who swore out a warrant against a criminal defendant has been held not to be the prosecutor for purposes of jury selection. The present case provides support for the wisdom of the rule: one cannot but reason that a juror such as the one here involved, while entertaining the highest of motives in her deliberations, would still be somehow swayed by her knowledge of the factual situation other than from the witness box and by a natural inclination to believe her husband was correct in swearing out the warrant. The present case comes within the general rule stated in Eady, supra, and adopted by the Supreme Court in Ethridge v. State, 164 Ga. 53 (2) (137 SE 784), not within the exception made in Spence. The trial court’s refusal to disqualify the challenged juror for cause was error.

While a defendant is not entitled to a perfect trial, he is entitled to a fair trial. Sanford v. State, 129 Ga. App. 337 (199 SE2d 560). See also Lutwak v. United States, 344 U. S. 604, 619 (73 SC 481, 97 LE 593); Bruton v. United States, 391U. S. 123,135 (88 SC 1620,20 LE2d 476); Brown v. United States, 411U. S. 223 (93 SC 1565,36 LE2d 208). When a defendant is required to use one of his most precious peremptory strikes to remove a juror tainted with cause for disqualification, the foundation of fairness and protection of fundamental rights is shaken. “As early as 1879 this court held that being required to exhaust four strikes on disqualified jurors was erroneous and harmful. It was said, ‘A big part of the battle is the selection of the jury, and an impartial jury is the cornerstone of the fairness of trial by jury.’ Melson v. Dickson, 63 Ga. 682,686 (1879). As late as 1978 this court stated, ‘Thus, if a challenge is made and improperly overruled by the court, but the juror so challenged for cause does not serve because subsequently struck by the complaining party, such ruling by the court is not error unless it appears that the party had to exhaust his peremptory challenges in order to strike that juror. ’Foster v. State, 240 Ga. 858, 859 (242 SE2d 600) (1978). In our opinion it is well established in Georgia that peremptory strikes are invaluable. When a defendant in a felony trial has to exhaust his peremptory strikes to excuse a juror who should have been excused for cause the error is harmful. [Cits.]” Bradham v. State, supra at 639. The appellant here used his ninth peremptory strike to excuse the prospective juror and used all his strikes before a full jury was chosen. The trial court’s erroneous refusal to excuse the juror requires that appellant be granted a new trial.

Decided September 8, 1983 Rehearing denied September 29, 1983 Rodney H. Roberts, Kermit N. McManus, for appellant. Stephen A. Williams, District Attorney, Marcus R. Morris, Steven Harrison, Assistant District Attorneys, for appellee.

2. In light of our reversal of appellant’s conviction, his second enumeration of error need not be addressed. The issue of the competency of the victim may be determined anew when appellant is retried.

Judgment reversed.

Quillian, P. J., Birdsong, Carley and Pope, JJ., concur. Deen, P. J., McMurray, P. J., Banke and Sognier, JJ., dissent.