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State v. Wilson8/23/2005
Opinion Vote: AFFIRMED.
Smith, C.J. and Lowenstein, J. concur.
Opinion:
Sherron Wilson appeals from his convictions for violence to an offender housed in a department correctional center, section 217.385, RSMo 2000, and second degree assault, section 565.060, RSMo 2000, and concurrent sentences of ten and seven years imprisonment. He claims that the trial court abused its discretion in sua sponte dismissing a venireperson, who was deaf, based on the court's inability to accommodate the venireperson's disability. The judgment of convictions is affirmed.
Mr. Wilson was an inmate at the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center when he was charged with violence to an offender housed in a department correctional center and second degree assault for assaulting Robert Anderson, another inmate, by hitting him repeatedly with a piece of concrete and by striking him in the head with his fist. As a result of the assault, the victim suffered numerous abrasions, lacerations, and avulsions of the soft tissue area of his face and scalp, and a first-degree burn on the left side of his neck. At the trial in November 2003, during voir dire, the trial court sua sponte struck a venireman on the ground that Mr. Wilson was entitled to a fair and impartial panel capable of hearing all the evidence and the court could not accommodate the venireman's hearing disability by providing an interpreter that day for a trial. Mr. Wilson was ultimately convicted of the charged crimes and sentenced, and this appeal followed.
In his sole point on appeal, Mr. Wilson claims that the trial court abused its discretion in In his sole point on appeal, Mr. Wilson claims that the trial court abused its discretion in sua sponte dismissing the deaf venireman based on the court's inability to accommodate the venireperson's disability. Mr. Wilson contends that the trial court's action violated his right to a jury selected without discrimination as guaranteed by the Equal Protection Clauses of the United States and Missouri Constitutions. He also contends that the trial court's action violated the venireperson's entitlement to equal protection.
The Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 18(a) of the Missouri Constitution provide that an accused is entitled to a fair and impartial jury. Edgar v. State, 145 S.W.3d 458, 462 (Mo. App. W.D. 2004) . Additionally, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a state from discriminating against prospective jurors on the basis of race or gender at any stage of the jury selection. J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B. , 511 U.S. 127, 130-31, 114 S.Ct. 1419, 128 L.Ed.2d 89 (1994); Batson v. Kentucky , 476 U.S. 79, 89, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986) . Although Mr. Wilson claims that the trial court's action in dismissing the deaf venireman violated his and the venireman's equal protection rights, this case is decided on statutory grounds.
Within constitutional limits, a state may regulate the qualification of jurors. Strauder v. West Virginia , 100 U.S. 303, 309-10, 25 L.Ed. 664 (1879) . Indeed, Missouri statutes regarding juror qualifications and accommodations in court proceedings for hearing impaired persons provide greater protection regarding the jury selection process than the federal and state constitutions. A defendant is entitled to a full panel of qualified jurors before he makes his peremptory challenges. State v. Stewart, 859 S.W.2d 913, 916 (Mo. App. E.D. 1993) . A trial court has broad discretion in determining the qualifications of potential jurors and, specifically, whether a deaf person can provide reasonable jury service. State v. O'Neal, 718 S.W.2d
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