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FOR CAUSE CHALLENGES TO TWO JURORS SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED, CONVICTION REVERSED (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing defendant’s conviction, determined the defense for cause challenges to two jurors should have been granted in this rape prosecution:

During voir dire, when counsel asked prospective juror No. 2 if she thought that this was the right case for her to sit on, she responded, “I’m not sure. I teach youth. I have five children. That’s where my sympathy would lie. . . . [T]he victim was probably about 20 years old. I would have a tendency to be biased in that direction.” Counsel then asked if those thoughts might make it difficult for prospective juror No. 2 to weigh the evidence. She responded, “I don’t think so. I think I could be biased. I’m sorry, unbiased. I do lean toward sympathy with the youth. That’s where my life is.” She then mentioned that she was very involved in church youth organizations and teaches ninth and tenth grade girls.

Prospective juror No. 3 acknowledged that he was having a hard time listening to the subject matter of the case during voir dire because he has four younger sisters and a daughter. When asked if he could “get beyond the allegations and really weigh the evidence” or whether that might be a problem, he responded, “I’d like to say I could be impartial, but until everything comes out it’s difficult to say.” No further questions were asked of these potential jurors by counsel or Supreme Court.

Supreme Court denied defendant’s challenges to these prospective jurors for cause, asserting that each had said he or she could be fair and impartial. Although prospective juror No. 2 did say she could be unbiased, she again stated immediately thereafter that she leaned toward sympathy with youth and worked with young girls, indicating an inclination toward the young female victim. Prospective juror No. 3 made an equivocal statement regarding his partiality. As neither prospective juror unequivocally stated that he or she could be impartial, the court should have posed questions to rehabilitate them by obtaining such assurances or, if rehabilitation was not possible, excused the prospective jurors … . People v Jackson, 2019 NY Slip Op 07442, Third Dept 10-17-19

 

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