Hill v. State

• Decision Date: 01 September 1994
• Docket Number: No. 92,92
• Citation: 661 A.2d 1164,339 Md. 275
• Parties: Andrew HILL v. STATE of Maryland. ,
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

Page 275

339 Md. 275

661 A.2d 1164

Andrew HILL v. STATE of Maryland.

No. 92, Sept. Term, 1994.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

July 21, 1995.

Devy Patterson Russell, Asst. Public Defender (Stephen E. Harris, Public Defender, on brief), Baltimore, for petitioner.

Tarra DeShields-Minnis, Asst. Atty. Gen. (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Atty. Gen., on brief), Baltimore, for respondent.

Argued before ELDRIDGE, RODOWSKY, CHASANOW, KARWACKI, BELL and RAKER, JJ., and JOHN F. McAULIFFE, Judge (retired), Specially Assigned.

BELL, Judge.

This case requires that we revisit the issue of when, and define the circumstances under which, at the request of the defendant, voir dire in a criminal case must include a question regarding racial bias or prejudice. In line with what this Court consistently has held, most recently in Davis v. State, 333 Md. 27, 34, 633 A.2d 867, 871 (1993), to be the overarching purpose of the voir dire examination--"to ascertain 'the existence of cause for disqualification ...' ", id., quoting McGee v. State, 219 Md. 53, 58, 146 A.2d 194, 196 (1959) (quoting Adams v. State, 200 Md. 133, 140, 88 A.2d 556, 559 (1952) (citations omitted))--we shall hold that under the circumstances of the case sub judice, the trial court should have inquired, as requested, into the venire's racial bias. Accordingly, we shall reverse the judgment of the Court of Special Appeals, which, in an unreported opinion, reached the opposite conclusion.

I

The State's only witness at trial was Barron N. Burch, a Baltimore City police officer. He testified that, while on armed robbery detail, he responded to the 2100 block of Booth Street, in answer to a call for a black male, wearing a black jacket and blue jeans, armed with a gun. When he arrived at that location, Officer Burch stated that he saw Andrew Hill, the petitioner. Observing that he matched the description he had been given, the officer approached the petitioner, placed him against the police cruiser Officer Burch was driving, and conducted a pat down search of the petitioner's clothing. He did not thereby discover a gun. Subsequently, however, the officer noticed that the petitioner was holding a box, inscribed with the word, "Dominoes." Despite the petitioner's express confirmation that the box did, indeed, contain Dominoes, Officer Burch took the box from the petitioner, opened it, and recovered 14 vials of cocaine.

The petitioner was charged with cocaine possession offenses. He elected to be tried by a jury. The petitioner being African-American and Officer Burch Caucasian, the petitioner requested the Circuit Court for Baltimore City to propound the following question during the voir dire examination of the venire:

You have taken note, the defendant is African/American. Both sides to this case, and certainly the court want to make it abundantly clear to you that the racial background of the defendant is not to be considered against him in any way. It is imperative that the defendant be judged only upon the evidence or lack of evidence, without any regard whatever to whether he is African/American or white. If there is in your background any experience, or attitude, or predisposition, or bias, or prejudice, or thought that will make it more difficult for you to render a verdict in favor of this defendant because of his race, then I ask that you raise your hand.

The trial court refused to ask the question. It did ask, however, whether any member of the jury panel "knew of anything that would keep her or him from giving a fair and impartial verdict," and "whether any member knew of any reason why he or she should not serve on the jury."

The jury having returned a guilty verdict as to both the possession and possession with intent to distribute cocaine charges, the petitioner, relying on the voir dire issue, among others, filed an appeal with the Court of Special Appeals. That court affirmed the judgment of the trial court. With respect to the voir dire issue, it relied on its prior holding "that a court may be required to question jurors regarding racial bias where 'the complainant and the witnesses for the State are of a different race than the defendant, and the crime involves victimization of another person and the use of violence.' " 100 Md.App. 796, quoting Holmes v. State, 65 Md.App. 428, 438-39, 501 A.2d 76, 80-1 (1985), rev'd on other grounds, 310 Md. 260, 528 A.2d 1279 (1987). The court pointed out that the charges of which the petitioner was accused and convicted "did not reflect any use of violence" id., therefore, it concluded "that the issue of racial bias was not fairly generated by this case and, therefore, the court was not required to specifically question the jury on this basis." Id.

At the petitioner's request, we issued a writ of certiorari to consider this important issue.

II

As relevant to the issue this case presents, in Maryland, the principles governing jury voir dire are well settled. Davis v. State, 333 Md. 27, 34-5, 633 A.2d 867, 870-71 (1993); Bedford v. State, 317 Md. 659, 670-71, 566 A.2d 111, 116-17 (1989); Brown v. State, 220 Md. 29, 35, 150 A.2d 895, 897-98 (1959); McGee v. State, 219 Md. 53, 58-9, 146 A.2d 194, 196 (1959); Casey v. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore, 217 Md. 595, 605, 143 A.2d 627, 631 (1958); Langley v. State, 281 Md. 337, 340, 378 A.2d 1338, 1339 (1977); Waters v. State, 51 Md. 430, 436 (1879). Of course, the nature and extent of the voir dire procedure, Bedford, 317 Md. at 670, 566 A.2d at 116-17; Langley, 281 Md. at 341, 378 A.2d at 1340; McGee, 219 Md. at 58-9, 146 A.2d at 196, as well as the form of the questions propounded, Casey, 217 Md. at 605, 143 A.2d at 631, are matters that lie initially within the discretion of the trial judge. Davis, 333 Md. at 34, 633 A.2d at 870; Bedford, 317 Md. at 670, 566 A.2d at 116-17. Undergirding the voir dire procedure and, hence, informing the trial court's exercise of discretion regarding the conduct of the voir dire, is a single, primary, and overriding principle or purpose: "to ascertain 'the existence of cause for disqualification.' " McGee, 219 Md. at 58, 146 A.2d at 196, quoting Adams v. State, 200 Md. 133, 140, 88 A.2d 556, 559 (1952) (citations omitted). This is consistent with the "fundamental tenet underlying the ... trial by jury ... that each juror, as far as possible, 'be impartial and unbiased.' " Davis, 333 Md. at 35, 633 A.2d at 871 (quoting Langley, 281 Md. at 340, 378 A.2d at 1339, in turn citing Waters, 51 Md. at 436). Thus, the purpose of the voir dire examination is to exclude from the venire those potential jurors for whom there exists cause for disqualification, so that the jury that remains is "capable of deciding the matter before [it] based solely upon the facts presented, 'uninfluenced by any extraneous considerations.' " Id.

One way to achieve the desired result is by inquiring of the venire "strictly within the right to discover the state of mind of the [potential] juror in respect to the matter in hand or any collateral matter reasonably liable to unduly influence him [or her]." Corens v. State, 185 Md. 561, 564, 45 A.2d 340, 343 (1946). In this regard, we have held that "any circumstances which may reasonably be regarded as rendering a person unfitted for jury service may be made the subject of questions and a challenge for cause." Id. See also Brown, 220 Md. at 35, 150 A.2d at 897-98, in which we observed:

[I]f there is any likelihood that some prejudice is in the juror's mind which will even subconsciously affect his decision of the case, the party who may be adversely affected should be permitted questions designed to uncover that prejudice. This is particularly true with reference to the defendant in a criminal case.

(quoting State v. Higgs, 143 Conn. 138, 120 A.2d 152, 154 (1956)). Where, therefore, a defendant's proposed voir dire questions concern a specific cause for disqualification, he or she has "a right to have [those] questions propounded to prospective jurors...." Casey, 217 Md. at 605, 143 A.2d at 631. That "right" to examine prospective jurors to determine whether any cause exists for disqualification is guaranteed by Article 21 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. Bedford, 317 Md. at 670, 566 A.2d at 116. And the proper focus of the voir dire examination is the venireperson's state of mind and the existence of bias, prejudice, or preconception, i.e., "a mental state that gives rise to cause for disqualification...." Davis, 333 Md. at 37, 633 A.2d at 872.

In Davis, we quite recently identified yet again areas of inquiry which, if reasonably related to the case at hand, are mandatory subjects of the voir dire examination. 333 Md. at 36, 633 A.2d at 871. Because "[t]hese areas entail potential biases or predispositions that prospective jurors may hold which, if present, would hinder their ability to objectively resolve the matter before them," we concluded that the trial court must question the prospective jurors about them. Id. Among the areas of inquiry is prospective jurors' possible racial bias. See Bowie v. State, 324 Md. 1, 15, 595 A.2d 448, 455 (1991). This is consistent with Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986) and its Maryland progeny, e.g. State v. Gorman, 324 Md. 124, 596 A.2d 629 (1991); Stanley v. State, 313 Md. 50, 542 A.2d 1267 (1988); Tolbert v. State, 315 Md. 13, 553 A.2d 228 (1989); Chew v. State, 317 Md. 233, 562 A.2d 1270 (1989); Gray v. State, 317 Md. 250, 562 A.2d 1278 (1989). Under Batson, race is deemed to be a suspect class and its use for racial discrimination purposes in the selection of a jury is held subject to strict scrutiny. See Tyler v. State, 330 Md. 261, 263, 623 A.2d 648, 649 (1993) (quoting Batson, 476 U.S. at 89, 106 S.Ct. at 1719, 90 L.Ed.2d at 82). ¹ Racial prejudice and bias has not been eradicated even as of today. And, as Davis, 333 Md. at 36, 633 A.2d at 872, recognized, a prospective juror who is prejudiced or biased based on...