Miller v. Young
Miller v. Young
Opinion
[¶ 1.] In this habeas appeal, defendant asserts that the circuit court's errors in the jury selection process are structural rather than procedural and warrant a new trial. Defendant also claims that his counsel *646 was ineffective at trial and on direct appeal regarding the errors in the jury selection process. We affirm.
Background
[¶ 2.] On January 30, 2013, a jury found Chris Miller guilty of the second-degree murder and aggravated assault of his four-month-old son. We affirmed Miller's convictions in
State v. Miller
,
[¶ 3.] The record reveals that jury selection occurred over the course of two days. The circuit court informed the parties that there would be 12 jurors and 3 alternates. The court also gave each side 22 peremptory strikes. To achieve these numbers, the court determined that there needed to be 59 qualified jurors after voir dire and prior to the strike-down (12 jurors plus 3 alternates plus 44 peremptory strikes equals 59). The court planned to call 200 potential jurors. The potential jurors were assigned a number and divided into four groups, which groups were to be called in four different panels.
[¶ 4.] On January 17, 2013, the first morning of jury selection, 31 potential jurors appeared. After voir dire, 6 jurors were excused for cause, leaving 25 qualified jurors on the clerk's final juror list. During the afternoon, 39 potential jurors appeared. After voir dire, 10 jurors were excused for cause, leaving 29 qualified jurors on the clerk's final juror list. With 54 qualified jurors after the first day of jury selection, the court noted that 5 more jurors needed to be qualified during the second day to reach the required 59 qualified jurors.
[¶ 5.] On January 18, the second morning of jury selection, 45 jurors appeared, including juror #108. Juror #108 had been scheduled to appear on the first afternoon of jury selection but did not appear. The record does not indicate why he was absent. After voir dire on the second day, 18 jurors were excused for cause, leaving 27 potential jurors. Because only 5 qualified jurors were needed, the circuit court drew a line on the clerk's final juror list intending to designate 59 jurors qualified for selection. The court mistakenly drew the line after the 60th qualified name on the list instead of after the 59th name. Neither the parties nor the circuit court were aware of the mistake when it happened.
[¶ 6.] After designating the jurors qualified for selection, the circuit judge gave the State the final juror list and left the courtroom. The parties alternated exercising peremptory strikes, with the State exercising its first strike on the 60th name on the list (juror #117). After both sides used their 22 peremptory strikes, they realized that 16 potential jurors remained, rather than 15 (12 jurors and 3 alternates). The parties brought the error to the circuit court's attention. The court realized that the 60th name on the list (juror #117) should not have been included because the court intended to include only 59 names on the list. Based on statements made by counsel for the State, the circuit court determined that if the error had not occurred, the State would have stricken juror #108. The court, therefore, suggested that juror #108 be stricken. Miller objected but did not propose a substitute resolution. Ultimately, the court declared the State's first peremptory strike (juror #117) "invalid" and struck juror #108.
[¶ 7.] Miller's case proceeded to trial, and the jury found Miller guilty of both *647 offenses. The court sentenced Miller to life in prison for the murder conviction and fifty years in prison for the conviction of aggravated assault, with the sentences to be served consecutively. Although Miller appealed, he did not challenge the jury selection process. He, however, asserted to the habeas court that appellate counsel was ineffective on direct appeal for failing to challenge the jury selection process.
[¶ 8.] After a hearing on Miller's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the habeas court issued 145 findings of fact and 157 conclusions of law. The court recognized that the circuit court had unilaterally decided to give each side 22 rather than 20 peremptory challenges without a motion by either party as required by SDCL 23A-20-23. The habeas court further noted that the circuit court's use of a hybrid-juror-selection process "resulted in more jurors than necessary being passed for cause" on January 18. The habeas court held that the circuit court's decision to "remove another juror [ (juror #108) ] that was selected by the State, after all other peremptory challenges had been used by both parties, violated SDCL § 23A-20-25 as the trial court effectively granted the State an additional peremptory challenge."
[¶ 9.] After identifying the circuit court's errors, the habeas court examined whether the errors were structural. In the habeas court's view, errors involving the use of peremptory strikes "have historically been subject to a harmless error analysis in the United States Supreme Court and other state courts." The court distinguished
State v. Blem
,
[¶ 10.] The habeas court then reviewed whether the procedural errors were harmless. The court reiterated that all the jurors were questioned and passed for cause. The court again identified the circuit court's errors:
a. The trial court ordered an additional 4 peremptory challenges (2 to each side) in violation of SDCL § 23A-20-20, without a motion or good cause showing as required by SDCL § 23A-20-23.
b. By striking Juror 108, the trial court effectively allowed the State to have an additional peremptory challenge after all peremptory challenges had been waived or exercised by the parties in violation of SDCL § 23A-20-20, without a motion or good cause showing as required by SDCL § 23A-20-23.
The habeas court concluded that even though the circuit court granted each side 22 rather than 20 peremptory strikes, Miller did not prove prejudice because he had been tried by an impartial jury. The court likewise held that Miller failed to prove that counsel was ineffective when counsel failed to object to the additional peremptory strikes or to the court's use of the hybrid-jury-selection process. The habeas court "noted that the trial court was not present during the peremptory challenge strike-down process." The court then correctly observed that the judge "should have been present during the exercise of the peremptory challenges," citing
State v. Arguello
,
[¶ 11.] The habeas court quashed the provisional writ but granted Miller a certificate of probable cause on the issue of jury selection. On appeal, Miller asserts:
1. The errors in the jury selection process warrant a new trial.
2. Counsel was ineffective at trial and during Miller's direct appeal for failing to challenge the jury selection process.
Standard of Review
[¶ 12.] "Our review of habeas corpus proceedings is limited because it 'is a collateral attack on a final judgment.' "
Vanden Hoek v. Weber
,
Analysis
1. Jury Selection Process
[¶ 13.] Miller avers that the errors in the jury selection process affected the framework within which his trial proceeded and thereby constituted structural errors. The errors Miller specifically challenges on appeal include: (1) the circuit court did not follow SDCL 23A-20-20 (Rule 24 (b) ) when it gave each side 22 peremptory challenges; (2) the court presented a list of 60 potential jurors instead of 59, thereby causing an extra juror to remain on the final list of qualified jurors; and (3) the circuit court gave the State an extra peremptory challenge.
[¶ 14.] Miller is correct that a structural error "necessarily renders a trial fundamentally unfair."
Guthmiller v. Weber
,
*649
Arguello
,
[¶ 15.] Miller concedes that this case does not concern one of the six recognized structural errors. Rather, he relies on
Blem
, in which we held that "a substantial failure to comply with jury selection statutes is a structural error[.]"
[¶ 16.] We agreed that the court erred and that the error was structural, relying on
State v. LaMere
,
[¶ 17.] Here, in contrast, the circuit court's errors did not deny Miller the opportunity to demonstrate that the jurors were biased. The errors did not negate the "objective procedures" that "secure a defendant's fundamental right to an impartial jury[.]"
LaMere
,
[¶ 18.] We likewise conclude that the circuit court's decision to strike juror #108, which in effect gave the State an extra peremptory strike, did not constitute a structural error. Long ago, this Court held that the circuit court's decision to grant the State an additional peremptory challenge after all challenges had been exercised was subject to harmless error analysis.
State v. Sitts
,
*650
[¶ 19.] Although
Blem
is a more recent decision and identified that a structural error can occur in the jury selection process,
Blem
does not stand for the proposition that every error in the jury selection process constitutes a structural error. As the Montana Supreme Court recognized after
LaMere
, "[t]echnical departures from the jury selection statutes and violations which do not threaten the goals of random selection and objective disqualification do not constitute a substantial failure to comply."
State v. Bearchild
,
[¶ 20.] Because, here, the circuit court's errors did not "threaten the goals of random selection and objective disqualification,"
see
Bearchild
,
[¶ 21.] Because the errors are not structural, we determine whether the circuit court's errors were harmless.
See
Arguello
,
[¶ 22.] Yet in
State v. Daniel
, we recognized that "[i]t is not error alone that reverses judgments of convictions of crime in this state but error plus injury."
*651 Moreover, the circuit court's decision to grant 22 peremptory strikes to each side, its decision to give the State an extra peremptory challenge, and its mistaken inclusion of 60 jurors on the clerk's final juror list did not deprive Miller of his constitutional right to a fair trial before an impartial jury.
[¶ 23.] As the United States Supreme Court has explained, "[a] principal reason for peremptories" is "to help secure the constitutional guarantee of a trial by an impartial jury."
Rivera
,
2. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
[¶ 24.] Miller asserts that his trial counsel's performance was deficient because counsel did not object to the circuit court's decision to grant each side 22 peremptory challenges. He further claims that trial counsel was deficient when counsel failed to object to the presence of 60 jurors on the list instead of 59. Although counsel did object when the circuit court gave the State an extra peremptory strike, Miller claims counsel was deficient because "counsel did not offer any solutions." These deficiencies, according to Miller, prejudiced him because they undermined the integrity of the entire trial. He further claims that appellate counsel was deficient on direct appeal for failing to challenge the jury selection process. In Miller's view, "[c]learly, these actions are not the actions of an effective legal counsel."
[¶ 25.] "This Court has stated that defendants 'shoulder a heavy burden of proof in their ineffective assistance of counsel claims.' "
Crutchfield
,
[¶ 26.] Miller has not met the heavy burden of proof on his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. In particular, Miller has not directed this Court to evidence that the failure to object or the failure to raise issues on direct appeal fell below an objective standard of reasonableness. Rather, he relies on his view that the errors in the jury selection process were structural, and he, thus, claims that counsel's deficiencies undermined the integrity of the entire trial. Because Miller has not overcome the "strong presumption that counsel's performance falls within the wide range of professional assistance," Miller has not shown that he received ineffective assistance of counsel.
See
Steichen v. Weber
,
[¶ 27.] Affirmed.
[¶ 28.] GILBERTSON, Chief Justice, and ZINTER, KERN, and JENSEN, Justices, concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Chris Allen MILLER, Petitioner and Appellant, v. Darin YOUNG, Warden, S.D. State Penitentiary, Respondent and Appellee.
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published