State v. White

82 Ohio St. 3d 16
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided May 20, 1998·No. Nos. 96-2029 and 96-2509·Published·Cited by 287 cases

Opinion

Francis E. Sweeney, Sr., J.

Appellant raises fifteen propositions of law for our consideration. (See Appendix.) We have carefully considered each of these propositions of law, but adhere to our position that we need not separately address all propositions of law in opinion form. See State v. Poindexter (1988), 36 Ohio St.3d 1, 3, 520 N.E.2d 568, 570; State v. Scudder (1994), 71 Ohio St.3d 263, 643 N.E.2d 524. Therefore, we summarily dispose of those propositions of law where the error was not properly preserved or where the issues raised have previously been addressed by this court but rejected. We have also reviewed the death sentence for appropriateness and proportionality. For the reasons that [20] follow, we affirm the judgment of the trial court and uphold the convictions and sentence of death.

I

ALLEGED JUROR BIAS

In his first proposition of law, appellant argues that the trial court erred in failing to excuse a juror for cause where that juror expressed concern over whether she was able to be impartial to the appellant. Appellant points out that R.C. 2313.43 requires jurors to be “entirely unbiased,” and asserts that the voir dire of this juror did not meet this standard.

R.C. 2313.43 provides that when a juror is challenged on suspicion of being prejudiced or partial to either party, “[t]he validity of such challenge shall be determined by the court and be sustained if the court has any doubt as to the juror’s being entirely unbiased.” We have previously held that a trial court has broad discretion in determining a juror’s ability to be impartial. State v. Williams (1983), 6 Ohio St.3d 281, 288, 6 OBR 345, 351, 452 N.E.2d 1323, 1331. Thus, where a prospective juror is being challenged for bias, “[djeference must be paid to the trial judge who sees and hears the juror.” Wainwright v. Witt (1985), 469 U.S. 412, 426, 105 S.Ct. 844, 853, 83 L.Ed.2d 841, 853. A decision on a challenge to a prospective juror regarding his or her fairness and impartiality constitutes reversible error only when the trial court is shown to have abused its discretion. State v. Wilson (1972), 29 Ohio St.2d 203, 211, 58 O.O.2d 409, 414, 280 N.E.2d 915, 920.

In deciding whether to exclude a juror for cause, the court must determine whether the prospective juror’s views would “prevent or substantially impair the performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his oath.” Adams v. Texas (1980), 448 U.S. 38, 45, 100 S.Ct. 2521, 2526, 65 L.Ed.2d 581, 589. Thus, the United States Supreme Court has held that jurors who are opposed to the death penalty in every case and are unable to follow the law should be disqualified. However, in State v. Williams (1997), 79 Ohio St.3d 1, 6, 679 N.E.2d 646, 653, we recognized that during voir dire in death penalty cases, prospective jurors often struggle with their personal beliefs concerning the death penalty. In these situations, it is the role of the trial judge to sort through the responses of prospective jurors to determine whether these individuals can follow the law.

In this case, the challenged juror expressed repeated concerns over whether she could be fair to the appellant. However, she ultimately acknowledged that she was a fair person and was willing to listen to all the evidence before making a final decision on appellant’s guilt. She also stated that she would not let her personal feelings interfere with her ability to be fair to appellant because she [21] would have to live with that the rest of her life. Furthermore, she said she would obey the law and the court’s instructions. Since the challenged juror ultimately said that she would follow the law and put aside her personal beliefs, we find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in overruling appellant’s challenge for cause.

In Proposition of Law VII, appellant argues that due to the extraordinary pretrial publicity in this case, it can be presumed that the jury was biased and that he was denied a fair trial. He also contends that the voir dire inadequately addressed the issue of pretrial publicity.

It is rare for a court to presume that a jury is prejudiced by pretrial publicity. State v. Lundgren (1995), 73 Ohio St.3d 474, 479, 653 N.E.2d 304, 313. Moreover, the fact that prospective jurors have been exposed to pretrial publicity does not, in and of itself, demonstrate prejudice. “[Pjretrial publicity — even pervasive, adverse publicity — does not inevitably lead to an unfair trial.” Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart (1976), 427 U.S. 539, 554, 96 S.Ct. 2791, 2800, 49 L.Ed.2d 683, 695. Therefore, if “the record on voir dire establishes that prospective veniremen have been exposed to pretrial publicity but affirmed they would judge the defendant solely on the law and the evidence presented at trial, it is not error to empanel such veniremen.” State v. Maurer (1984), 15 Ohio St.3d 239, 252, 15 OBR 379, 390, 473 N.E.2d 768, 781; State v. Carter (1995), 72 Ohio St.3d 545, 556, 651 N.E.2d 965, 976. In State v. Bayless (1976), 48 Ohio St.2d 73, 98, 2 O.O.3d 249, 262, 357 N.E.2d 1035, 1051, we stated that “a careful and searching voir dire provides the best test of whether prejudicial pretrial publicity has prevented obtaining a fair and impartial jury from the locality.”

Contrary to appellant’s assertions that the voir dire was inadequate, the record reveals that the contrary is true. The voir dire in this case was not cursory. It covered three days and four hundred fifty pages of transcript. The trial court asked prospective jurors questions about whether they had read about the murder or heard about it on radio or television. Several prospective jurors were familiar with the case. The court, as well as counsel for both sides, questioned those who indicated that they could not be fair and impartial to appellant. Following this in-depth questioning, the court excluded several prospective jurors who still felt that they could not be impartial due to the pretrial publicity. Appellant has not proven that the jury was prejudiced by pretrial publicity. Nor was the voir dire inadequate in this case. Consequently, we overrule this proposition of law.

II

PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT

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