State v. Lindsey

948 So. 2d 105, 2007 WL 102721
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJanuary 17, 2007
Docket2006-K-255
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 948 So. 2d 105 (State v. Lindsey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Lindsey, 948 So. 2d 105, 2007 WL 102721 (La. 2007).

Opinion

948 So.2d 105 (2007)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Calvin LINDSEY.

No. 2006-K-255.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

January 17, 2007.

*106 Charles C. Foti, Jr., Attorney General, Richard J. Ward, Jr., District Attorney, Elizabeth A. Engolio, Assistant District Attorney, for Applicant.

Gwendolyn K. Brown, Baton Rouge, for Respondent.

KIMBALL, Justice.

The issue presented in this case is whether the district court abused its discretion in denying defendant's challenge for cause of a prospective juror who testified she would afford police officer testimony greater credibility, but also stated she would do her best to give all of the testimony the same weight. For the reasons that follow, we find the district court was within its discretion in denying the challenge for cause based on the entirety of the relevant voir dire testimony. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeal and reinstate defendant's conviction and sentence. The case is remanded *107 to the court of appeal for consideration of defendant's remaining assignment of error.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In March 2003, police officers from the Plaquemine City Police Department, assisted by the Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office, conducted an undercover narcotics operation purchasing narcotics from street-level dealers around the Plaquemine area and in Iberville Parish. On March 11, 2003, defendant, who has part of one leg missing, approached one of the undercover vehicles in a wheelchair and asked the officers what they needed. The officer driving the vehicle, which was equipped with a wireless transmitter and a video recorder, informed defendant he needed a "forty," which is slang for $40 worth of crack cocaine. Defendant told the officer to "make a block" and meet him on the other side of the tracks. When they met at the second location, defendant sold two rocks of crack cocaine for $40 to the officer on the passenger side of the vehicle.

A jury found defendant guilty as charged of distribution of cocaine, and the court sentenced him to nine years imprisonment at hard labor, with the first two years of the sentence to be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The First Circuit Court of Appeal reversed the conviction, finding the district court erred when it denied the defense challenge for cause of prospective juror Bonny Lewin. We granted certiorari to review the correctness of this decision.

DISCUSSION

Prejudice is presumed when a district court erroneously denies a challenge for cause and the defendant ultimately exhausts his peremptory challenges. State v. Kang, 02-2812, p. 3 (La.10/21/03), 859 So.2d 649, 651; State v. Robertson, 92-2660, p. 3 (La.1/14/94), 630 So.2d 1278, 1280. A district court's erroneous ruling which deprives a defendant of a peremptory challenge substantially violates that defendant's rights and constitutes reversible error. Kang, 02-2812, at p. 3, 859 So.2d at 652; State v. Cross, 93-1189, p. 6 (La.6/30/95), 658 So.2d 683, 686; State v. Bourque, 622 So.2d 198, 225 (La. 1993), overruled on other grounds by State v. Comeaux, 93-2729 (La.7/1/97), 699 So.2d 16; State v. McIntyre, 365 So.2d 1348, 1351 (La.1978). When a defendant uses a peremptory challenge after a challenge for cause has been denied, the defendant must show: (1) erroneous denial of the challenge for cause; and (2) use of all peremptory challenges. Kang, 02-2812, at p. 3, 859 So.2d at 652; Cross, 93-1189 at p. 6, 658 So.2d at 686; Robertson, 92-2660 at p. 2, 630 So.2d at 1280; State v. Lee, 559 So.2d 1310, 1316 (La.1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 954, 111 S.Ct. 1431, 113 L.Ed.2d 482 (1991). In the instant case, defendant exhausted all of his peremptory challenges, and therefore, his objection to the ruling refusing to sustain his challenge for cause is properly before the court.

Under La.C.Cr.P. art. 797, a defendant may challenge a juror for cause if:

(2) The juror is not impartial, whatever the cause of his partiality. An opinion or impression as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant shall not of itself be sufficient ground of challenge to a juror, if he declares, and the court is satisfied, that he can render an impartial verdict according to the law and the evidence;
(4) The juror will not accept the law as given to him by the court;

When a juror expresses a predisposition as to the outcome of a trial, a *108 challenge for cause should be granted. Lee, 559 So.2d at 1318. Yet, if after subsequent questioning, or rehabilitation, the juror exhibits the ability to disregard previous views and make a decision based on the evidence presented at trial, the challenge is properly denied. Id. When assessing whether a challenge for cause should be granted, the district judge must look at the juror's responses during his or her entire testimony, not just "correct" isolated answers or, for that matter, "incorrect," isolated answers. Id.

Generally, an individual who will unquestionably credit the testimony of law enforcement officers over that of defense witnesses is not competent to serve as a juror. Kang, 02-2812, at pp. 4-5, 859 So.2d at 652-53; State v. Allen, 380 So.2d 28, 30 (La.1980); State v. Jones, 282 So.2d 422, 431 (La.1973). However, a mere relationship between a prospective juror and a law enforcement officer is not of itself grounds to strike the juror for cause. Kang, 02-2812, at p. 5, 859 So.2d at 653; State v. Anthony, 98-0406, p. 24 (La.4/11/00), 776 So.2d 376, 392; State v. Smith, 430 So.2d 31, 38 (La.1983). Additionally, a prospective juror's seemingly prejudicial response is not grounds for an automatic challenge for cause, and a district judge's refusal to excuse him on the grounds of impartiality is not an abuse of discretion, if after further questioning the potential juror demonstrates a willingness and ability to decide the case impartially according to the law and evidence. Kang, 02-2812, at p. 5, 859 So.2d at 653; Lee, 559 So.2d at 1318; State v. Baldwin, 388 So.2d 664, 671-72 (La.1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1103, 101 S.Ct. 901, 66 L.Ed.2d 830 (1981); Allen, 380 So.2d at 30. A challenge for cause should be granted, however, even when a prospective juror declares his ability to remain impartial, if the juror's responses as a whole reveal facts from which bias, prejudice or inability to render a judgment according to law may be reasonably implied. Kang, 02-2812, at p. 5, 859 So.2d at 653; State v. Hallal, 557 So.2d 1388, 1389-90 (La.1990).

A district judge has broad discretion in ruling on a challenge for cause, and the determination will not be disturbed unless a review of the entire voir dire indicates an abuse of discretion. Cross, 93-1189 at p. 7, 658 So.2d at 686; Bourque, 622 So.2d at 225; State v. Jones, 474 So.2d 919, 926 (La.1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1178, 106 S.Ct. 2906, 90 L.Ed.2d 992 (1986).

We begin our analysis by examining the entirety of prospective juror Bonny Lewin's voir dire responses relating to her ability to evaluate the credibility of testimony given by police officers. First, the court questioned Bonny Lewin about her personal associations with law enforcement and whether that would impact her ability to evaluate the credibility of witnesses fairly:

Q: Do you have any friends or relatives employed by the District Attorney's office or any law enforcement agency of any kind?

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Bluebook (online)
948 So. 2d 105, 2007 WL 102721, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lindsey-la-2007.