Clark v. State, 3 Div. 777

• Decision Date: 02 August 1983
• Docket Number: 3 Div. 777
• Parties: Lamar CLARK v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 1287

443 So.2d 1287

Lamar CLARK v. STATE.

3 Div. 777.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

Aug. 2, 1983.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 4, 1983.

Certiorari Denied Jan. 13, 1984

Alabama Supreme Court 83-32.

Ira DeMent and Ronald W. Wise, Montgomery, for appellant.

Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and Jean Williams Brown, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

SAM W. TAYLOR, Judge.

The appellant was indicted and convicted of murder in violation of Alabama Code § 13A-6-2 (1975). Sentence was 99 years' imprisonment. He appeals.

The single issue raised by this appeal has to do with the denial of the appellant's challenge for cause of a juror. The following facts are set out.

The examination proceeded as follows:

"MR. HARTLEY: ... One of the defenses that Mr. Clark will be making to this charge against him is 'Not guilty by reason of insanity.' Now, I'm sure that all of you are aware that this defense has come under fire, has been questioned and been a lot of attention on the newspapers and TV, particularly since the attempted assassination of the President by Mr. Hinkley. Because of that I want to know if there are any of you who have considered this question of insanity as a defense and because of your thoughts about it and your consideration of that defense, have formed an opinion whereby you disapprove insanity as a defense. I want you to think about that for a minute.

"MR. TINDAL: I have already thought about it.

"MR. HARTLEY: You have already thought about it, Mr. Tindal?

"MR. TINDAL: I'm very much concerned over it.

"MR. HARTLEY: All right, sir. Then does your concern lead you to believe that it should not be allowed as a defense of a criminal act?

"MR. TINDAL: Yes, sir.

"MR. HARTLEY: All right, sir. Then if that defense were interposed in this case and you believed the Defendant to be insane, would you still vote for a conviction?

"MR. TINDAL: I would.

"MR. HARTLEY: Cause, Judge.

"THE COURT: Mr. Tindal, if the Court charged you that a person who is suffering from a mental disease at the time of the commission of the crime or at the time of the commission of the act, and that mental disease is a complete defense to the act and the evidence showed that he was suffering from a mental disease at that time, would you still not give him the benefit of that defense?

"MR. TINDAL: Judge, if he had had previous records of mental defect, I would give him a chance to come out with it.

"THE COURT: All right, sir.

"MR. TINDAL: But if it's several times he has had mental problems, I would say that he was insane.

THE COURT: And give him the benefit of that defense?

"MR. TINDAL: I would.

"THE COURT: The challenge is denied. I think he recognized the defense of insanity.

"MR. HARTLEY: All right, sir."

It is the business of the trial court to insure that an unbiased jury hears a case. Howell v. City of Birmingham, 383 So.2d 567 (Ala.Cr.App.) cert. denied, 383 So.2d 570 (Ala.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 937, 101 S.Ct. 336, 66 L.Ed.2d 160 (1980); Motes v. State, 356 So.2d 712 (Ala.Cr.App.) cert. denied, 356 So.2d 720 (Ala.1978). The court is not limited by the grounds for challenge as set out in Alabama Code § 12-16-150 (1975). Any ground which was valid at common law is deemed still valid in Alabama unless it is inconsistent with the grounds enumerated in § 12-16-150. Nobis v. State, 401 So.2d 191 (Ala.Cr.App.) cert. denied, 401 So.2d 204 (Ala.1981). The legal question presented by this case is whether or not the prospective juror had "a fixed opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant which would bias his verdict." Proof that the juror has a biased or fixed opinion is insufficient. There must be proof that the opinion was "so fixed that it would bias the verdict of the juror."

In Nobis v. State, supra, which provides an excellent discussion of this subject, the case for challenge made out by the defendant was much stronger than that presented here. Eleven prospective jurors said they believed that a psychologist could not, through interviewing and testing, determine the sanity of a person as of some four months beforehand. Twelve jurors answered that they believed that insanity pleas were just gimmicks used by defense lawyers. The court in Nobis found that these responses did not reflect such a prejudice or preconceived notion as to warrant disqualification. The court defined a fixed opinion as to guilt or innocence as "one that is a conviction or prejudgment, a strong or deep impression which closes the mind of...