Walton v. State

650 S.W.2d 231, 279 Ark. 193, 1983 Ark. LEXIS 1384
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMay 9, 1983
DocketCR 82-136
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 650 S.W.2d 231 (Walton v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walton v. State, 650 S.W.2d 231, 279 Ark. 193, 1983 Ark. LEXIS 1384 (Ark. 1983).

Opinions

Darrell Hickman, Justice.

Clarence Walton was charged with the rape and attempted capital murder of a mother of four who clerked in a twenty-four hour convenience store called the Jr. Food Mart in Marianna, Arkansas. He was convicted on both counts and sentenced to life imprisonment for the attempted murder, and fifty years and a $15,000 fine for the rape, the sentences to be served consecutively.

On appeal he argues that seven errors were committed. We find one of them meritorious. Sarah J. Hood, who ultimately served as foreman of the jury, was challenged for cause and the court should have sustained the challenge. Not doing so was prejudicial error which requires us to reverse the judgment and remand the cause for a new trial.

On May 29, 1981, at about 8:50 A.M., the victim, while working at the store, was violently assaulted and raped. Walton, eighteen, was charged with the offense. He is black and the victim is a white woman.

His first trial resulted in a mistrial because the jury was unable to reach a verdict. The jury impaneled for a second trial was ordered quashed by the trial court when it was challenged by Walton’s attorneys. That jury was selected by jury commissioners rather than by random selection using a jury wheel in accordance with Ark. Stat. Ann. § 39-205.1 (Supp. 1981). A total of forty-four jurors were examined, seventeen were excused by the court for various reasons, and the jury was selected only after individual voir dire examination in the judge’s chambers. The trial judge was careful in the formation of the jury which heard Walton’s case. But, even so, we are satisfied that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing Mrs. Hood to sit on this jury because the record reflects that Mrs. Hood was simply not candid with the court. There is no question that a proper motion to strike her for cause was made; all the appellant’s peremptory challenges had been exhausted.

Mrs. Hood is a teacher at a private school in Lee County. She brought her government class to the second day of Walton’s first trial and evidently was present during most of the day. We cannot be certain from the record exactly what she heard in the way of testimony, because she was somewhat vague about it and denied any knowledge of what actually transpired. She did say that she and her class had discussed the case, but explained that the discussion was mostly about the procedural aspects of the trial. Mrs. Hood had been a teacher of the deputy prosecuting attorney. She said she wanted to serve on the jury because she never had been a juror. No doubt this desire affected her answers to questions about her qualifications.

Mrs. Hood’s initial examination by the court reads:

BY THE COURT:
Q. Good morning, Mrs. Hood.
A. Good morning.
Q. Mrs. Hood, this is the case of the State of Arkansas against Clarence Walton. He is charged with rape and attempted capital murder. This is a criminal trial. The charge alleges that on or about May the 29th of last year that he committed these two offenses. The victim was _Mrs. Hood, do you know anything about this case?
A. I have no personal knowledge of the case, no, sir.
Q. Have you read anything about it in the local newspaper?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. From what you have read about it in the newspaper, have you formed any opinion about this case one way or the other?
A. No, sir, I have not.
Q. Have you heard anybody discuss the case where you work, or in your home, or throughout the community?
A. No, sir.
Q. Have you heard any talk about the case in the community at all? f
A. Just casual conversation.
Q. From the casual conversation that you may have heard about this case, have you formed any opinion, Mrs. Hood?
A. No, sir, I have not.
Q. Mrs. Hood, Clarence Walton is sitting at the table here this morning. Do you know Clarence Walton?
A. No, sir.
Q. As you sit here this morning, Mrs. Hood, do you have anything that is running through your mind that you think you ought to tell me or the lawyers that might in some fashion affect your ability to be a fair and impartial juror no matter what it is, legal, moral, or anything?
A. No, sir.
(Emphasis added.)

She was next examined at length by the prosecutor and she did not reveal that she had heard one day’s testimony in the first trial. She did not disclose this until she was examined by the defense attorney. Then, in response to a direct question, she answered that she had indeed been in the courtroom with her government class at Walton’s first trial and had listened to testimony for one full day. She obviously should have volunteered this information to the trial court when initially examined. The judge refused to strike her for cause, but the record reflects that the trial judge did not accurately remember her first answers because he did not think she had been evasive. The defense attorney said:

Your Honor, I believe, as the court inquired of Mrs. Hood, she indicated that she had not heard any testimony of the case other than possible talk; is that correct, when she first started talking?
The court replied:
I can’t honestly say. That is the forty-second juror we have questioned, and I have asked all of them if they know anything about the case, and she indicated she knew something and could set it aside. What her precise answers were, I do not know.

Clearly, the court did not recall that Mrs. Hood had been deceptive in her answers to the court’s questions. In our judgment her answers were not truthful and, in view of that, she should not have been allowed to sit on this jury. We do not imply that if a prospective juror is aware of testimony in a case he can never be allowed to sit as a juror. See Holland v. State, 260 Ark. 617, 542 S.W.2d 761 (1976). However, that is not the situation presented here. The case before us involves a prospective juror, who later served as foreman of the jury, who was not candid with the court. She knew a considerable amount about the case, or she certainly could have; she did or could have easily formed some opinions from hearing evidence at the first trial which could have influenced her judgment of the case. When examined closely about what she heard, all her answers were phrased to deny any knowledge that would disqualify her. She expressed a special desire to serve on the jury because she had always wanted to serve on a jury, had been a registered voter for at least twenty-one years, and never been called.

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Related

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776 S.W.2d 821 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1989)
Carmichael v. State
757 S.W.2d 944 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1988)
Watson v. State
720 S.W.2d 310 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1986)
Berry v. State
718 S.W.2d 447 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1986)
Johnson v. State
696 S.W.2d 742 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1985)
Crossno v. State
692 S.W.2d 626 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1985)
Cannon v. State
690 S.W.2d 725 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1985)
Avery v. State
690 S.W.2d 732 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1985)
McFarland v. State
684 S.W.2d 233 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1985)
Berna v. State
670 S.W.2d 434 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1984)
Smith v. State
669 S.W.2d 201 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
650 S.W.2d 231, 279 Ark. 193, 1983 Ark. LEXIS 1384, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walton-v-state-ark-1983.