People v. Cole

MR. JUSTICE SCHAEFER, dissenting:

In my opinion the appellate court properly reversed the judgment of conviction because the trial judge, at the urging of the State’s Attorney, required the defendant to stand trial before a juror whose prior associations with the prosecutors, the sheriff, and other prosecution witnesses, were such as to make it difficult, if not impossible, for him to be impartial. I think that the appellate court applied the correct standard in holding that the defendant had been deprived of his constitutional right to a trial before an impartial jury.

The facts disclosed oh the voir dire examination of the juror Davis were thus stated by the appellate court:

“Davis was a lifelong resident of Sangamon County, whose wife was employed in the courthouse as a deputy of the Board of Review; whose son was employed as a civil engineer for the State of Illinois in the Highway Department; who had heard about the case through the news media; who had known the State’s Attorney and his assistant for a number of years; who had worked for the State’s Attorney in his campaign; who was a witness for the State’s Attorney in a case in which he was privately employed; who was acquainted with one of the decedents and had conversed with him on the telephone; who had lived next door to a doctor who was a material witness and who also had been the juror’s family doctor for a number of years; who indicated he had known the assistant State’s Attorney ‘way back’; whose youngest son was married to a sister of a witness; who was related to another witness; who was personally acquainted with Edward Ryan, a material witness, and the sheriff of the county; who had served as treasurer of the campaign for Ryan; who had discussed this case with Ryan; ***.” 132 Ill. App. 2d 1041, 1042 .

The juror’s doubt as to his .own impartiality is the dominant theme that runs through his answers to the questions put to him on voir dire. When asked by the judge whether his decision would be influenced by his acquaintance with the prosecutors, he first answered: “Well, I would say that I would try to be fair. Let’s put it that way.” After the judge had admonished him, “*** you understand, if selected, that you are not to consider the fact that you may or may not know the attorneys on one side or the other in making a determination or in reaching a verdict in the case. You think you could do that?”, he answered, “I believe so.” And when further pressed, “Now, the fact that you know Mr. Terrell or Mr. Hollis, your situation there, now, you’re telling the Court that would not in any way prejudice any of the rights of the defendant, is that correct?”, he answered, “As I said, I would hope not. I’m human like everybody else, but I would generally — no.” Subsequently, when asked by the State’s Attorney whether their prior relationship “*** would not interfere with your duties as a juror if you are selected and you would render a fair and impartial verdict in this case, is that correct?”, the witness answered, “I’m only human, but I would attempt not to, yes.”

This prospective juror had managed the sheriff’s election campaign, and had served as his campaign treasurer. The sheriff had talked to him about the case three or four times, and was to be a witness. In answer to a question as to whether he could set aside what he had previously been told by the sheriff, he answered, “I believe I could, yes.”

The trial judge appears to have overruled the defendant’s challenge for cause upon the ground that he was required to accept the juror’s statement as to his subjective frame of mind. Addressing defense counsel, the judge stated: “You put the Court in the position here that a man has made [szc] all the tests prescribed by law and if this Court were to dismiss this juror for challenge for cause it would be indicating that the Court would be not accepting what he said here.”

This statement seems to suggest that the answers of a prospective juror as to his subjective frame of mind determine his qualification to serve as a juror. If this was true, there would be no useful function for the judge to perform. It is not true, and it is the duty of the judge to appraise the prospective juror’s frame of mind and to base his ruling upon that appraisal.

In my opinion, the frank, natural answers of this prospective juror show that he was not qualified to serve as a juror. Even when pressed and prompted, his reservations as to his own impartiality were not dispelled.

I am further of the opinion that the appellate court properly based its ruling in part upon the statement, often reiterated by this and other courts, that “[i] t was a cardinal rule at common law that jurors, to be qualified as impartial, should stand indifferent between the parties and be wholly free from even the suspicion of bias.” (People v. Cravens (1941), 375 Ill. 495, 497 ; see also, State v. Jackson (Ravenell) (1964), 43 N.J. 148, 156-161 , 203 A.2d 1, 5-8 , cert. denied (1965), 379 U.S. 982 , 13 L. Ed. 2d 572 , 85 S. Ct. 690 , and cases cited therein.) To the extent that the majority opinion has attempted to depreciate the requirement that jurors be wholly free from the suspicion of bias, it has taken a long step backward.

MR. JUSTICE WARD joins in this dissent.