State v. Wright
State v. Wright
Opinion of the Court
*773In this appeal, defendant challenges his convictions of rape in the first degree, ORS 163.375 ; sodomy in the first degree, ORS 163.405 ; and strangulation, ORS 163.187 ; raising two assignments of error. We reject defendant's second assignment of error without discussion, and write only to address the first. There, defendant challenges the trial court's refusal to strike a potential juror for cause, arguing that the juror evidenced clear bias. We conclude that defendant failed to create a record establishing prejudice and, accordingly, affirm.
In light of our disposition in this case, we need not relate the facts underlying the offense, or the statements given by the prospective juror in voir dire , in detail. For purposes of our decision, it suffices to say *472that the prospective juror related that her friend had been the victim of a sexual assault that shared qualities with the allegations in this case. After the juror disclosed this, defense counsel moved that she be struck for cause from the panel. The trial court did not find a basis to excuse the potential juror for cause, so defense counsel used a peremptory challenge on the potential juror. Ultimately, defendant used all six of his peremptory challenges.
Defendant now appeals, assigning error to the trial court's refusal to strike the potential juror for cause. We review a trial court's decision to strike a potential juror for cause for abuse of discretion, giving due deference to the trial court's judgment in light of its advantage of observing a prospective juror's demeanor, apparent intelligence, and candor. State v. Montez ,
Through a series of cases stretching back nearly a century, Oregon courts have established that a party seeking to challenge a trial court's denial of a for-cause challenge to a potential juror must create a record establishing prejudice in two distinct respects. First, a party must exhaust all peremptory challenges. "A party whose peremptory challenges have not been exhausted is not in a position *774to complain of the overruling of his challenge for cause to a juror who afterwards serves on the panel." Lambert v. Srs. of St. Joseph ,
Second, even after a party exhausts all peremptory challenges, the litigant must create a record that he or she "was compelled to accept an objectionable juror." State v. Megorden ,
In this case, although defendant exhausted all peremptory challenges, nothing in the record-either by statement of defense counsel or otherwise-evidences that the seated jury was objectionable to defendant. As such, we cannot conclude from this record that the trial court's decision not to strike the potential juror for cause ultimately resulted in prejudice to defendant. Accordingly, we affirm.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Oregon, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Christopher Lee WRIGHT
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published