State v. Hoffman

• Decision Date: 09 October 1998
• Docket Number: No. 313A97.,313A97.
• Citation: 505 S.E.2d 80,349 N.C. 167
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Johnathon Gregory HOFFMAN.

505 S.E.2d 80

349 N.C. 167

STATE of North Carolina v. Johnathon Gregory HOFFMAN.

No. 313A97.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

October 9, 1998.

Michael F. Easley, Attorney General by Mary D. Winstead, Assistant Attorney General, for the State.

Center for Death Penalty Litigation by Staples Hughes, Staff Attorney, Durham, for defendant-appellant.

WHICHARD, Justice.

On 22 January 1996 defendant was indicted for robbery with a dangerous weapon and the first-degree murder of Danny Cook, both occurring on 27 November 1995. Defendant was tried capitally, and the jury returned verdicts finding him guilty of robbery with a firearm and first-degree murder based on premeditation and deliberation as well as the felony murder rule. Following a capital sentencing proceeding pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 15A-2000, the jury recommended that defendant be sentenced to death. The trial court sentenced defendant accordingly, and further sentenced him to 101 to 131 months' imprisonment for the robbery with a dangerous weapon conviction. Defendant appealed the first-degree murder conviction to this Court, and we allowed defendant's motion to bypass the Court of Appeals on the robbery with a dangerous weapon conviction.

In an opinion filed 9 July 1998, this Court remanded the case to the Superior Court, Union County, for a hearing as to whether defendant's jury had been selected contrary to the equal protection principles set forth in Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). State v. Hoffman, 348 N.C. 548, 500 S.E.2d 718 (1998). A hearing was held, and an order was entered on 24 August 1998. The trial court concluded that the State had offered valid, race-neutral explanations for its peremptory challenges of prospective jurors James Rorie and Lori Brace and that defendant had failed to meet his ultimate burden of proof of showing purposeful racial discrimination in the challenging of these prospective jurors. The transcript contains evidence that supports the trial court's findings, and the findings in turn support its conclusions. This assignment of error is therefore overruled, and the case is before this Court for review of defendant's remaining assignments of error.

The evidence presented at trial tended to show that between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m. on 27 November 1995, defendant entered a jewelry store in Marshville, North Carolina, wearing a ski mask and carrying a sawed-off shotgun. Danny Cook, the victim, was behind the store's display counter when he saw defendant enter. Defendant shot the victim in the chest from a distance of about three feet. Defendant then broke three glass display cases and took various items of jewelry, including some gold rings and necklaces. Defendant also stole two pistols.

In defendant's first assignment of error, he contends that prospective juror Josephine McLemire was improperly excused for cause. Defendant argues that while McLemire may have shown some opposition to the death penalty, she did not demonstrate sufficient opposition to warrant a for-cause removal.

The standard for determining when a prospective juror may be excluded for cause because of his or her views on capital punishment is "whether the juror's views would `prevent or substantially impair the performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his oath.'" Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 424, 105 S.Ct. 844, 852, 83 L.Ed.2d 841, 851-52 (1985) (quoting Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38, 45, 100 S.Ct. 2521, 2526, 65 L.Ed.2d 581, 589 (1980)). When McLemire was first asked about her ability to return a guilty verdict knowing that death was a possible sentence, she said she did not know whether she could return such a verdict. After time to think about the question, McLemire said she could "fairly consider death as a possible sentence in this case." Before defendant finished questioning the prospective jurors in McLemire's panel, the court excused the prospective jurors and adjourned for the day. Defendant continued his questioning of these jurors the next day. When defendant asked McLemire how long she had held her belief in the death penalty, she replied, "Well, I really don't believe in it. I slept on it last night and I'm still undecided." Upon further questioning by the trial court, McLemire stated that she could not consider the death penalty as an appropriate punishment. She further stated that she would find herself to be substantially impaired in her ability to perform her duties as a juror. In response to questioning by the State, she again stated that if her duty as a juror required her to sentence defendant to death, she would be substantially impaired in performing her duty.

At that point the State challenged McLemire for cause. The trial court allowed defendant's request to question her further. Defendant asked her whether she believed in the death penalty. She said she did not. McLemire then told defendant she could apply the law to the case without her personal beliefs substantially impairing her ability to follow the law. The trial court then asked, "But you still couldn't come back and consider a death penalty as one of the appropriate punishments in the case?" McLemire replied that she could not. The trial court continued its questioning. She told the trial court that her views on the death penalty would not substantially impair her ability to perform her duties as a juror. She also told the trial court that her views on the death penalty would not interfere with her ability to consider both possible punishments and that, in spite of her views, she could return a sentence of death against defendant. At this point the trial court allowed the State's for-cause challenge, agreeing that her answers were "obviously equivocal."

Defendant argues that McLemire should not have been excused for cause because while her answers revealed that she had reservations about the death penalty, she also stated that these views would not impair her ability to consider that penalty in this case. In support of his argument, defendant cites the following:

[T]he Constitution [does not] permit the exclusion of jurors from the penalty phase of a ... murder trial if they aver that they will honestly find the facts and answer the [capital sentencing] questions in the affirmative if they are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, but not otherwise, yet who frankly concede that the prospects of the death penalty may affect what their honest judgment of the facts will be or what they may deem to be a reasonable doubt.

Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. at 50, 100 S.Ct. at 2529, 65 L.Ed.2d at 593 (emphasis added). Defendant argues that McLemire falls into the above class of prospective jurors and that she therefore was improperly excused for cause.

Five years after Adams, the United States Supreme Court decided Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 105 S.Ct. 844, 83 L.Ed.2d 841, in which it made it clear that a prospective juror's bias does not have to be proven with "unmistakable clarity" in order to justify a for-cause removal. Id. at 424, 105 S.Ct. at 852, 83 L.Ed.2d at 852.

This is because determinations of juror bias cannot be reduced to question-and-answer sessions which obtain results in the manner of a catechism. What common sense should have realized experience has proved: many veniremen simply cannot be asked enough questions to reach the point where their bias has been made "unmistakably clear"; these veniremen may not know how they will react when faced with imposing the death sentence, or may be unable to articulate, or may wish to hide their true feelings. Despite this lack of clarity in the printed record, however, there will be situations where the trial judge is left with the definite impression that a prospective juror would be unable to faithfully and impartially apply the law.... [T]his is why deference must be paid to the trial judge who sees and hears the juror.

Id. at 424-26, 105 S.Ct. at 852, 83 L.Ed.2d at 852-53 (footnote omitted). This Court has likewise held that the granting of a challenge for cause based on a prospective juror's unfitness is a matter within the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed absent an abuse of discretion. State v. Abraham, 338 N.C. 315, 343, 451 S.E.2d 131, 145 (1994).

McLemire stated on numerous occasions that she did not believe in the death penalty and that her views would substantially impair the performance of her duties as a juror. The trial court had to decide whether a number of contradictory responses by this prospective juror were sufficient to defeat the State's for-cause challenge. After watching and listening to this prospective juror, the trial court concluded that McLemire's answers during voir dire provided a sufficient basis to allow the State's for-cause challenge. We cannot conclude that the trial court abused its discretion.

Defendant also argues that he should have been allowed to question McLemire again before she was excused for cause. We have stated that "[i]t is not an abuse of discretion for the trial court to deny defendant an attempt to rehabilitate a juror unless defendant can show that further questions would have produced different answers by the juror." State v. Cummings, 346 N.C. 291, 313, 488 S.E.2d 550, 563 (1997), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 118 S.Ct. 886, 139 L.Ed.2d 873 (1998). The trial court had already allowed defendant one attempt to rehabilitate this prospective juror. Defendant has not shown that additional questioning of McLemire would likely have produced different results. This assignment of error is overruled.

Defendant next contends that juror Howard Setzer, a Charlotte police officer, should have been excused for cause. Setzer stated that he had heard about defendant's case briefly in the course of his employment but had not formed an opinion about it. Upon questioning by defendant, Setzer stated that he would tend to find "an officer to be a more credible witness simply based...