State v. Williams
| Decision Date | 31 March 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 55563,55563 |
| Citation | 310 So.2d 528 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Larry D. WILLIAMS. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
Lawrence J. Genin, Marrero, Lenon J. Parent, Jr., Chauppette, Genin, Mendoza & Parent, Marrero, for defendant-appellant.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., John M. Mamoulides, Dist. Atty., Robert A. Pitre, Asst. Dist. Atty., Abbott J. Reeves, Director, Research and Appeals Div., Gretna, Keith S. May, Research Atty., Research and Appeals Division, for plaintiff-appellee.
Larry D. Williams was indicted by the grand jury of Jefferson Parish on October 11, 1972 for the crime of aggravated rape. The defendant was arraigned and pleaded not guilty. Several pretrial motions were filed on behalf of the defendant. On March 27, 1973 trial was held. This trial resulted in a mistrial because the jury could not agree on a verdict. Defendant was retried on October 12, 1973 and the jury found him guilty without capital punishment. Numerous bills of exceptions were reserved; eight are presented to this court.
During voir dire examination of the petit jurors it was noted that only twenty-two of the fifty-five prospective jurors were present. Defendant alleges that this prejudiced his rights and was grounds for a mistrial. The court, exercising its discretion under C.Cr.P. 785, simply asked for and obtained tales jurors from another section of the court. This was entirely proper.
Defendant does not allege that the jury obtained by this system was unfair or biased. Nor does he attack the qualifications of any of the jurors chosen. Defendant's only complaint, one which he did not raise to the trial judge, is that because the list of names of prospective jurors for each court is released at the first of the week he would have been able to investigate the jurors for the court scheduled to hear his case but that when the other court's jurors were substituted because of the large number of absences, he was not able to investigate the new prospective jurors before trial (a practice not shown to have been followed by defense counsel). This contention is without merit. C.Cr.P 785 provides for the exact procedure followed by the trial judge in this case. The defendant does not allege that he received a biased jury because of the procedure. Defendant's only allegation of injury is not supported by any facts.
This bill is without merit.
Defendant also moved for a mistrial during the voir dire examination because of the remarks of one of the prospective jurors when questioned by the district attorney. The exchange was as follows:
'D. A. (Mr. Pitre)--Do you know any of us involved?
The defendant contends that this exchange was prejudicial to him, apparently because the other jurors would be led to believe that the excused juror knew something about the case and knew that the defendant was guilty. The defendant presumes too much. There is no showing that the remarks of the excused juror affected the other jurors. Certainly the conclusion that they were led to believe that the defendant was guilty by the above exchange is injustified. The entire purpose of voir dire is to select jurors who can render an impartial verdict. This prospective juror Properly advised the court that his friendship with the victim would affect his verdict.
The bill is without merit.
The third assigned error was reserved when the trial judge refused to give three requested special jury charges. The first requested charge concerned the duty of a juror to adhere to an opinion which squares with his conscience, regardless of the division of opinion among the jurors. The requested charge was not precisely correct. C.Cr.P. 807 requires the trial judge to give any special jury charges requested by the parties if they do not require qualification, limitation or explanation; they are wholly correct and pertinent, and are not included in the general charge. The charge requested by the defendant, omitting the phrase 'hung jury' and the consequences of a mistrial, was included in the general charge. The trial judge instructed the jurors that each one was to decide the innocence or guilt of the accused in his own mind and to stick to that opinion in spite of being outnumbered, unless convinced by other jurors that his opinion did not conform to the law or evidence. All of the important points concerning the jury's determination of guilt or innocence were covered by the trial judge, and it was not error to refuse to give the requested charge.
The second requested charge concerned the issue of reasonable doubt. The only difference between the requested charge and the portion of the trial judge's general charge concerning this issue is the wording of the instruction and the emphasis. The defendant's requested charge stressed the duty to acquit the accused if doubt existed as to his participation in the crime. Although the defendant's charge can be said to be a proper statement of law, the trial judge fully covered this issue in the general charge.
The third requested charge concerned the law on the eyewitness identification. Once again the trial judge covered this question in his general charge. The trial judge noted that the jurors were to consider all the factors surrounding the confrontation to determine whether the witness correctly identified the defendant, and that they must find that the witnesses correctly identified the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt before they could find the defendant guilty. The defendant's requested charge is not inaccurate, but the subject was fully and accurately covered by the trial judge in his general charge.
This bill of exceptions is without merit.
This bill was reserved when the trial judge denied a motion to suppress the grand and petit jury venires. Defendant alleges that both women and members of the class of persons between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one years of age were unconstitutionally excluded from the jury venires.
In Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 95 S.Ct. 692, 42 L.Ed.2d 690 (1975), the United States Supreme Court held that the Louisiana exclusion of women from the jury system was an unconstitutional discrimination. In Daniel v. Louisiana, 420 U.S. 31, 95 S.Ct. 704, 42 L.Ed.2d 790 (1975), the Supreme Court held that the Taylor decision would not be applied retroactively to any jury empaneled before the date of the decision. Defendant's claim of unconstitutionality because of the exclusion of women is without merit.
Defendant also contends that R.S. 13:3056, as amended by the legislature by Act No. 523 of 1972, shows a legislative intent to end the jury exemption for women. This contention is without merit. The amendment to this statute was passed in contemplation of the passage of an amendment to the Louisiana Constitution of 1921. Article 7, § 41 of the 1921 Constitution provided that women could not be called for jury service unless they had previously filed a written declaration of their desire to serve. The contemplated constitutional amendment deleting this provision failed to pass the general election. Even if it could be assumed that the legislature was attempting to make the broad change that the defendant contends, the act was in direct conflict with the existing constitutional provision. It should also be noted that the legislature did not amend article 402 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This article provides express authority for the exclusion of women from juries in criminal cases. There was no error in the exclusion of women from the jury.
The defendant also alleges that the class of persons between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one years of age was arbitrarily excluded from the grand and petit jury venires. This contention has been previously considered by this court. In State v. McKinney, La., 302 So.2d 917 (1974), this court held that the group of prospective jurors between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one is not so identifiable a group that their exclusion renders the jury nonrepresentative of the general community. As in the McKinney case, there is no evidence in the record before this court that eighteen to twenty-one year olds were excluded from the jury venires. Without evidence that an identifiable class of persons was systematically excluded from participation in the jury system, the venires must be upheld.
This bill of exceptions is without merit.
Defendant contends that he had a right to inspect the testimony of the prosecution witnesses before the grand jury. Defendant bases this contention on a claim that C.Cr.P. 434 is unconstitutional. That article states:
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