State v. Soulia
| Citation | 174 N.H. 225,261 A.3d 946 |
| Decision Date | 05 May 2021 |
| Docket Number | No. 2019-0653,2019-0653 |
| Parties | The STATE of New Hampshire v. Richard SOULIA |
| Court | Supreme Court of New Hampshire |
Gordon J. MacDonald, attorney general (Elizabeth C. Woodcock, assistant attorney general, on the brief and orally), for the State.
Thomas Barnard, senior assistant appellate defender, of Concord, on the brief and orally, for the defendant.
The defendant, Richard Soulia, appeals his convictions, following a jury trial, on three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault. See RSA 632-A:2, I(a), II (2016). On appeal, the defendant argues that the Superior Court (Ruoff, J.) erred when it denied his motions to strike for cause three prospective jurors, in violation of his right to an impartial jury under the State and Federal Constitutions. He also argues that the trial court may have erred when it failed to disclose certain confidential records following in camera review of those records under the standard we recently clarified in State v. Girard, 173 N.H. 619, 627-29, 247 A.3d 358 (2020). Because we conclude that the trial court sustainably exercised its discretion when it denied the defendant's motions to strike the jurors for cause and when it withheld certain confidential records, we affirm.
The defendant first argues that the trial court violated his right to a fair and impartial jury under the State and Federal Constitutions when it denied his motions to strike three prospective jurors for cause. See N.H. CONST. pt. I, arts. 15, 21, 35; U.S. CONST. amends. VI, XIV. We first address his claim under the State Constitution and rely on federal law only to aid our analysis. State v. Ball, 124 N.H. 226, 231-33, 471 A.2d 347 (1983). In addition, before discussing the specific facts relevant to each challenged juror, we set out the legal standards governing juror impartiality.
Part I, Article 35 of the New Hampshire Constitution provides, in relevant part, "It is the right of every citizen to be tried by judges as impartial as the lot of humanity will admit." N.H. CONST. pt. I, art. 35. "This provision for judicial impartiality is applicable as well to jurors." State v. Tabaldi, 165 N.H. 306, 312, 77 A.3d 1124 (2013) (quotation omitted). This constitutional provision therefore enshrines as "a fundamental precept of our system of justice that a defendant has the right to be tried by a fair and impartial jury." Id. (quotation omitted).
Generally, a juror is presumed to be impartial. Id. "A juror is considered impartial if the juror can lay aside her [or his] impression or opinion and render a verdict based on the evidence presented in court." Id. (quotation omitted). "When a juror's impartiality is questioned, however, the trial court has a duty to determine whether the juror is indifferent." Id. (quotation omitted); see also RSA 500-A:12, I (2010). "If it appears that any juror is not indifferent, [she or] he shall be set aside on that trial." RSA 500-A:12, II (2010).
The trial court's determination of a juror's impartiality " ‘is essentially one of credibility, and therefore largely one of demeanor.’ " State v. Addison (Capital Murder), 165 N.H. 381, 447, 87 A.3d 1 (2013) (quoting Patton v. Yount, 467 U.S. 1025, 1038, 104 S.Ct. 2885, 81 L.Ed.2d 847 (1984) ). The determination " ‘is ordinarily influenced by a host of factors impossible to capture fully in the record — among them, the prospective juror's inflection, sincerity, demeanor, candor, body language, and apprehension of duty.’ " Id. (quoting Skilling v. United States, 561 U.S. 358, 386, 130 S.Ct. 2896, 177 L.Ed.2d 619 (2010) ). For these reasons, the trial court's impartiality determination "is entitled to special deference." Tabaldi, 165 N.H. at 312-13, 77 A.3d 1124.
"Once the trial court on voir dire has made a determination as to whether a prospective juror is free from prejudice, it is then our duty on appeal to evaluate the voir dire testimony of the empanelled jury to determine whether an impartial jury was selected." State v. Town, 163 N.H. 790, 794, 48 A.3d 966 (2012) (citation omitted). "We will not disturb the trial court's ruling absent an unsustainable exercise of discretion or a finding that the trial judge's decision was against the weight of the evidence." Id. "To show an unsustainable exercise of discretion, the defendant must demonstrate that the court's ruling was clearly untenable or unreasonable to the prejudice of his case." Id. at 795, 48 A.3d 966.
The defendant asserts, and the State agrees, that to prove prejudice in this context, he must show "that a biased juror actually sat on the jury." Addison, 165 N.H. at 450, 87 A.3d 1 (quotation omitted). Accordingly, we apply that standard here. Under this standard of review, the defendant argues that the trial court erred when it denied his motions to strike for cause three prospective jurors who later sat on the jury. We briefly recount the facts relevant to jury selection before addressing the defendant's arguments as to each challenged juror.
In November 2018, a grand jury indicted the defendant on four counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, see RSA 632-A:2 (Supp. 2020), and one count of prostitution, see RSA 645:2, II(a) (2016). These charges arose from allegations made by a member of the defendant's extended family that the defendant sexually assaulted her on several occasions when she was a minor.
During jury selection, the court asked the entire pool of potential jurors the following questions, among others: (1) whether they knew any of the prospective witnesses; (2) whether they were in any way related to persons engaged in any occupation related to law enforcement; (3) whether they or any member of their family or anyone close to them had ever been a victim of sexual abuse, sexual assault, or attempted sexual assault; and (4) whether there was anything in their history or day-to-day experiences that prevented them from being fair and impartial towards an individual accused of sexually assaulting a child. The court instructed the jury pool that if their name was drawn as a prospective juror and they answered "yes" to any of these questions, they should alert the court and discuss the question at the bench. Jurors A, B, and C were among the jurors who responded affirmatively and, consequently, the court conducted individual voir dire of each juror. The court found each of these three jurors qualified over the defendant's objection. The defendant exhausted his three peremptory challenges, see RSA 606:3, III (2001), but did not exercise them on Jurors A, B, and C. These three jurors were not selected as alternates and participated in the jury deliberations that resulted in the defendant's convictions. We now examine the voir dire testimony of Jurors A, B, and C, and address the defendant's arguments on appeal as to each juror.
Juror A informed the court that, approximately ten years ago, her son had been a police officer and that her former significant other had been a part-time police officer. She stated that these relationships would not impact her ability to be fair and impartial. Juror A also advised the court that she previously worked as a para-educator and "was trained to be a child advocate for nonverbal and nontraditional children." She explained that, in that capacity, she once had to report a suspected sexual assault of one of her students to her supervisor. She said that her only involvement after that report was to do a "write up" of the allegation for the school district. She also explained that no one was ever prosecuted for the assault because the alleged perpetrator was a family member of the child and the child's parent "did not want [the alleged perpetrator] to go to jail." When asked by the court whether that experience "would affect [her] ability to be fair and impartial in this case," Juror A said, "I would say no, with a little bit of apprehension, because I just felt like the child wasn't advocated ... for properly." Juror A further stated that she "would do [her] best here to do what's right and answer honestly to [her] heart." In response to questioning by counsel, Juror A admitted that, when hearing the instant case, her "mind [could] go back to that kid" and that the experience "had an effect on [her]."
Defense counsel moved to strike Juror A for cause because "[s]he didn't express a certainty that she could be fair" and, due to the similarities between the instant case and her prior experience, Juror A might "want to see justice done that wasn't done before." The court denied the motion and explained,
On appeal, the defendant argues that the record does not establish that Juror A would be able to set aside her personal experience involving an allegation of sexual abuse and render an unbiased verdict. He asserts that the facts here are analogous to those presented in State v. Town. In Town, the defendant was charged with aggravated felonious sexual assault. Town, 163 N.H. at 791, 48 A.3d 966. The challenged juror in that case disclosed to the court that she had been a victim of sexual assault at the age of fourteen. Id. When the court asked the juror if that experience prevented her from being fair and impartial, she replied, "I think I need to do this." Id. (quotation omitted). When asked again by the court and for a third time by defense counsel if her personal experience would prevent her from being impartial, she answered, "I'm not sure." Id. at 791-92, 48 A.3d 966. On two occasions, the court asked the juror whether she could set aside her personal situation and judge the case solely on the evidence, and each time the juror responded that she would "try." Id. After considering the entirety of the juror's voir dire, we held that the juror's "indication that she would ‘try’ to...
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