P. v. Swope CA5
Appellant/defendant Arthur Ray Swope was charged and convicted of two counts of robbery (Pen. Code, § 212.5, subd. (c)) and misdemeanor resisting arrest (§ 148, subd. (a)(1)). He was sentenced to the second strike term of 21 years in prison.
On appeal, defendant argues the court abused its discretion when it denied his pretrial motions to dismiss the venire and for a mistrial. Defendant made the motions during voir dire after a prospective juror, who was a correctional officer, said he recognized defendant because he had previously been in custody. The court denied the defense motions. Thereafter, the court, defense counsel, and the prosecutor extensively questioned the prospective jurors about whether hearing that information would affect their deliberations. Defense counsel excused several individuals from the venire but kept the correctional officer on the jury and did not use all of his peremptory challenges.
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