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Court of Appeal: Juror-Challenge May Be Allowed Based on Distrust of Police Officers
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A judge was not statutorily bound to deny a challenge-for-cause based on a prospective juror’s expressed distrust of police officers, Div. Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has held.
Sabrina Aranda appealed her conviction for possession of a controlled substance in a correctional facility, citing Code of Civil Procedure §231.7(e), which provides that “[a] peremptory challenge for any of the following reasons is presumed to be invalid…: [¶](1) Expressing a distrust of…law enforcement….” The statute delineates the showing that must be made to overcome the presumption.
“The language of section 231.7 is clear: it applies only to peremptory challenges,” Justice Thomas M. Goethals said in an opinion, filed Thursday.
He continued:
“We therefore need not consider prior drafts of the statute, nor may we construct section 231.7 in a way that conflicts with its plain language. To do so would run afoul of well-established rules of statutory construction. Because the prosecution challenged Juror 134 for cause and not with a peremptory challenge, section 231.7 does not apply.”
The case is People v. Aranda, G061394.
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