Turner v. Murray, 476 U.S. 28 (1986)
Turner v. Murray, 476 U.S. 28 (1986)
28
106 S.Ct. 1683
90 L.Ed.2d 27
Syllabus
Petitioner, a black man, was indicted in Virginia on charges of capital
murder for fatally shooting the white proprietor of a jewelry store in the
course of a robbery. During voir dire, the state trial judge refused
petitioner's request to question the prospective jurors on racial prejudice.
The jury convicted petitioner, and, after a separate sentencing hearing,
recommended that he be sentenced to death, a recommendation the trial
judge accepted. The Virginia Supreme Court upheld the death sentence,
rejecting petitioner's argument that the trial judge deprived him of a fair
trial by refusing to question the prospective jurors on racial prejudice.
Petitioner then sought habeas corpus relief in Federal District Court,
which rejected the same argument and denied relief, and the Court of
Appeals affirmed.
Held: The judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded.
753 F.2d 342, reversed and remanded.
Justice WHITE delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I
and III, concluding that a defendant accused of an interracial capital crime
is entitled to have prospective jurors informed of the victim's race and
questioned on the issue of racial bias. This rule is minimally intrusive. As
in other cases involving "special circumstances," the trial judge retains
discretion as to the form and number of questions, including whether to
question the venire individually or collectively. Also, a defendant cannot
Having learned that Smith had triggered a silent alarm, petitioner became
agitated. He fired toward the rear wall of the store and stated that if he saw or
heard any more police officers, he was going to start killing those in the store.1
When a police siren sounded, petitioner walked to where Smith was stationed
behind a counter and without warning shot him in the head with Bain's pistol,
wounding Smith and causing him to slump incapacitated to the floor.
" 'The defendant, Willie Lloyd Turner, is a member of the Negro race. The
victim, W. Jack Smith, Jr., was a white Caucasian. Will these facts prejudice
you against Willie Lloyd Turner or affect your ability to render a fair and
impartial verdict based solely on the evidence?' " Turner v. Commonwealth,
221 Va. 513, 522, n. 8, 273 S.E.2d 36, 42, n. 8 (1980).
The judge declined to ask this question, stating that it "has been ruled on by the
Supreme Court."2 App. 15. The judge did ask the venire, who were questioned
in groups of five in petitioner's presence, whether any person was aware of any
reason why he could not render a fair and impartial verdict, to which all
answered "no." Id., at 17, 78. At the time the question was asked, the
prospective jurors had no way of knowing that the murder victim was white.
9
The jury that was empaneled, which consisted of eight whites and four blacks,
convicted petitioner on all of the charges against him. Id., at 97 and Addendum.
After a separate sentencing hearing on the capital charge, the jury
recommended that petitioner be sentenced to death, a recommendation the trial
judge accepted. Id., at 18, 19.
10
Petitioner appealed his death sentence to the Virginia Supreme Court. Among
other points, he argued that the trial judge deprived him of his constitutional
right to a fair and impartial jury by refusing to question prospective jurors on
racial prejudice. The Virginia Supreme Court rejected this argument. Relying
on our decision in Ristaino v. Ross, 424 U.S. 589, 96 S.Ct. 1017, 47 L.Ed.2d
258 (1976), the court stated that a trial judge's refusal to ask prospective jurors
about their racial attitudes, while perhaps not the wisest decision as a matter of
policy, is not constitutionally objectionable in the absence of factors akin to
those in Ham v. South Carolina, 409 U.S. 524, 93 S.Ct. 848, 35 L.Ed.2d 46
(1973).3 Turner v. Commonwealth, supra, 221 Va., at 523, 273 S.E. 2d, at 42.
The court held that "[t]he mere fact that a defendant is black and that a victim
is white does not constitutionally mandate . . . an inquiry [into racial
prejudice]." Ibid.4
11
Having failed in his direct appeal, petitioner sought habeas corpus relief in the
Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. App. 97. Again he
argued without success that the trial judge's refusal to ask prospective jurors
about their racial attitudes deprived him of his right to a fair trial. Id., at 102104. The District Court noted that in Ristaino, supra, which involved a crime of
interracial violence,5 we held that inquiry into racial prejudice at voir dire was
not constitutionally required because the facts of the case " 'did not suggest a
significant likelihood that racial prejudice might infect [the defendant's] trial.' "
App. 103 (quoting 424 U.S., at 598, 96 S.Ct., at 1022). The court found the
present case like Ristaino and unlike Ham in that "racial issues [are] not
'inextricably bound up with the facts at trial.' " App. 103.
12
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the District
Court's denial of habeas corpus relief for petitioner. Turner v. Bass, 753 F.2d
342 (1985). Like the Virginia Supreme Court and the District Court, the Fourth
Circuit found no "special circumstances" in this case analogous to those in
Ham. The court rejected the idea that "the nature of the crime or punishment
We granted certiorari to review the Fourth Circuit's decision that petitioner was
not constitutionally entitled to have potential jurors questioned concerning
racial prejudice. 471 U.S. 1098, 105 S.Ct. 2319, 85 L.Ed.2d 838 (1985). We
reverse.
II
14
The Fourth Circuit's opinion correctly states the analytical framework for
evaluating petitioner's argument: "The broad inquiry in each case must be . . .
whether under all of the circumstances presented there was a constitutionally
significant likelihood that, absent questioning about racial prejudice, the jurors
would not be indifferent as [they stand] unsworn". 753 F.2d, at 345-346
(internal quotation omitted). The Fourth Circuit was correct, too, in holding that
under Ristaino the mere fact that petitioner is black and his victim white does
not constitute a "special circumstance" of constitutional proportions. What sets
this case apart from Ristaino, however, is that in addition to petitioner's being
accused of a crime against a white victim, the crime charged was a capital
offense.
15
In a capital sentencing proceeding before a jury, the jury is called upon to make
a "highly subjective, 'unique, individualized judgment regarding the punishment
that a particular person deserves.' " Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 340,
n. 7, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 2645-2646, n. 7, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985) (quoting Zant v.
Stephens, 462 U.S. 862, 900, 103 S.Ct. 2733, 2755, 77 L.Ed.2d 235 (1983)
(REHNQUIST, J., concurring in judgment)). The Virginia statute under which
petitioner was sentenced is instructive of the kinds of judgments a capital
sentencing jury must make. First, in order to consider the death penalty, a
Virginia jury must find either that the defendant is likely to commit future
violent crimes or that his crime was "outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or
inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind or an aggravated battery
to the victim." Va.Code 19.2-264.2 (1983). Second, the jury must consider
any mitigating evidence offered by the defendant. Mitigating evidence may
include, but is not limited to, facts tending to show that the defendant acted
under the influence of extreme emotional or mental disturbance, or that at the
time of the crime the defendant's capacity "to appreciate the criminality of his
conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was significantly
impaired." 19.2-264.4(B). Finally, even if the jury has found an aggravating
factor, and irrespective of whether mitigating evidence has been offered, the
jury has discretion not to recommend the death sentence, in which case it may
not be imposed. 19.2-264.2.
16
Virginia's death-penalty statute gives the jury greater discretion than other
systems which we have upheld against constitutional challenge. See, e.g., Jurek
v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 96 S.Ct. 2950, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976). However, our
cases establish that every capital sentencer must be free to weigh relevant
mitigating evidence before deciding whether to impose the death penalty, see,
e.g., Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 102 S.Ct. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982);
Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 597-609, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 2960-2967, 57 L.Ed.2d
973 (1978) (plurality opinion), and that in the end it is the jury that must make
the difficult, individualized judgment as to whether the defendant deserves the
sentence of death.
17
18
III
19
IV
20
The inadequacy of voir dire in this case requires that petitioner's death sentence
be vacated. It is not necessary, however, that he be retried on the issue of guilt.
Our judgment in this case is that there was an unacceptable risk of racial
prejudice infecting the capital sentencing proceeding. This judgment is based
on a conjunction of three factors: the fact that the crime charged involved
interracial violence, the broad discretion given the jury at the death-penalty
hearing, and the special seriousness of the risk of improper sentencing in a
capital case.11 At the guilt phase of petitioner's trial, the jury had no greater
discretion than it would have had if the crime charged had been noncapital
murder. Thus, with respect to the guilt phase of petitioner's trial, we find this
case to be indistinguishable from Ristaino, to which we continue to adhere.12
See n. 5, supra.
21
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for
further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
22
It is so ordered.
23
24
25
sentence in this case must be vacated. But even if I did not hold that view, I
would still find that the sentence was unconstitutionally imposed in this case. In
my view, the constitutional right of a defendant to have a trial judge ask the
members of the venire questions concerning possible racial bias is triggered
whenever a violent interracial crime has been committed. See Ross v.
Massachusetts, 414 U.S. 1080, 94 S.Ct. 599, 38 L.Ed.2d 486 (1973)
(MARSHALL, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari). The reality of race
relations in this country is such that we simply may not presume impartiality,
and the risk of bias runs especially high when members of a community serving
on a jury are to be confronted with disturbing evidence of criminal conduct that
is often terrifying and abhorrent. In analyzing the question of when the
Constitution requires trial judges to accommodate defendants' requests for
inquiries into racial prejudice, I, like the Court, am influenced by what the
Court correctly describes as the "ease" with which the risk may be minimized.
Ante, at 36.
26
In any event, I cannot fully join either the Court's judgment or opinion. For in
my view, the decision in this case, although clearly half right, is even more
clearly half wrong. After recognizing that the constitutional guarantee of an
impartial jury entitles a defendant in a capital case involving interracial
violence to have prospective jurors questioned on the issue of racial biasa
holding which requires that this case be reversed and remanded for new
sentencingthe Court disavows the logic of its own reasoning in denying
petitioner Turner a new trial on the issue of his guilt. It accomplishes this by
postulating a jury role at the sentencing phase of a capital trial fundamentally
different from the jury function at the guilt phase and by concluding that the
former gives rise to a significantly greater risk of a verdict tainted by racism.
Because I believe that the Court's analysis improperly intertwines the
significance of the risk of bias with the consequences of bias, and because in
my view the distinction between the jury's role at a guilt trial and its role at a
sentencing hearing is a distinction without substance in so far as juror bias is
concerned, I join only that portion of the Court's judgment granting petitioner a
new sentencing proceeding, but dissent from that portion of the judgment
refusing to vacate the conviction.
27
try the case solely on the basis of the evidence. This right to exclude
incompetent jurors cannot be exercised meaningfully or effectively unless
counsel has sufficient information with which to evaluate members of the
venire. As Justice White noted for the Court in Rosales-Lopez v. United States,
451 U.S. 182, 188, 101 S.Ct. 1629, 1634, 68 L.Ed.2d 22 (1981), "lack of
adequate voir dire impairs the defendant's right to exercise peremptory
challenges where provided by statute or rule, as it is in the federal courts."
(footnote omitted).
28
Recognizing this fact, we held long ago that "essential demands of fairness"
may require a judge to ask jurors whether they entertain any racial prejudice.
Aldridge v. United States, 283 U.S. 308, 51 S.Ct. 470, 75 L.Ed. 1054 (1931);
see also Ham v. South Carolina. More recently, we attempted to refine the
analysis, and declared that when there is a showing of a "likelihood" that racial
or ethnic prejudice may affect the jurors, the Constitution requires a trial judge
to honor a defendant's request to examine the jurors' ability to deal impartially
with the evidence adduced at trial. Rosales-Lopez, supra, 451 U.S., at 190, 101
S.Ct., at 1635. Exercising our supervisory powers over the federal courts, we
held in Rosales-Lopez that when a violent crime has been committed, and the
victim and the accused are of different races, a per se inference of a "reasonable
possibility" of prejudice is shown. In the present case, we deal with a criminal
case from a state court involving an act of interracial violence, and are faced
with the question of what factors and circumstances will elevate this
presumptive "reasonable possibility" of prejudice into a constitutionally
significant "likelihood" of prejudice.
29
The Court identifies three factors, the "conjunction" of which in its view
entitled petitioner Turner as a matter of constitutional right to have the jury
questioned on racial bias. These are (1) the fact that the crime committed
involved interracial violence; (2) the broad discretion given the jury at the
death penalty hearing; and (3) the "special seriousness of the risk of improper
sentencing in a capital case." Ante, at 37. I agree with the Court that when these
three factors are present, as they were at petitioner's sentencing hearing, the
trial court commits constitutional error in refusing a defense request to ask the
jurors if the race of either the victim or the accused will bear on their ability to
render a decision based solely on the evidence. What I cannot accept is that the
judge is released from this obligation to insure an impartial juryor, to put it
another way, that the defendant is stripped of this constitutional safeguard
when a capital jury is hearing evidence concerning a crime involving interracial
violence but passing "only" on the issue of guilt/innocence, rather than on the
appropriate sentence.
30
The Court's argument is simply untenable on its face. As best I can understand
it, the thesis is that since there is greater discretion entrusted to a capital jury in
the sentencing phase than in the guilt phase, "there is [in the sentencing
hearing] a unique opportunity for racial prejudice to operate but remain
undetected." Ante, at 35. However, the Court's own discussion of the issues
demonstrates that the opportunity for racial bias to taint the jury process is not
"uniquely" present at a sentencing hearing, but is equally a factor at the guilt
phase of a bifurcated capital trial.
31
32
"More subtle, less consciously held racial attitudes could also influence a juror's
decision. . . . Fear of blacks, which could easily be stirred up by the violent
facts of [a] crime, might incline a juror to favor the death penalty." Ibid.
33
The flaw in this "analysis" is that there is simply no connection between the
proposition advanced, the support proffered for that thesis, and the conclusion
drawn. In other words, it is certainly true, as the Court maintains, that racial
bias inclines one to disbelieve and disfavor the object of the prejudice, and it is
similarly incontestable that subconscious, as well as express, racial fears and
hatreds operate to deny fairness to the person despised; that is why we seek to
insure that the right to an impartial jury is a meaningful right by providing the
defense with the opportunity to ask prospective jurors questions designed to
expose even hidden prejudices. But the Court never explains why these biases
should be of less concern at the guilt phase than at the sentencing phase. The
majority asserts that "a juror who believes that blacks are violence prone or
morally inferior might well be influenced by that belief in deciding whether
petitioner's crime involved the aggravating factors specified under Virginia
law." Ibid. But might not that same juror be influenced by those same
prejudices in deciding whether, for example, to credit or discredit white
witnesses as opposed to black witnesses at the guilt phase? Might not those
same racial fears that would incline a juror to favor death not also incline a
juror to favor conviction?
34
A trial to determine guilt or innocence is, at bottom, nothing more than the sum
total of a countless number of small discretionary decisions made by each
individual who sits in the jury box. The difference between conviction and
acquittal turns on whether key testimony is believed or rejected; on whether an
alibi sounds plausible or dubious; on whether a character witness appears
trustworthy or unsavory; and on whether the jury concludes that the defendant
had a motive, the inclination, or the means available to commit the crime
charged. A racially biased juror sits with blurred vision and impaired
sensibilities and is incapable of fairly making the myriad decisions that each
juror is called upon to make in the course of a trial. To put it simply, he cannot
judge because he has prejudged. This is equally true at the trial on guilt as at
the hearing on sentencing.
35
36
My sense is that the Court has confused the consequences of an unfair trial with
the risk that a jury is acting on the basis of prejudice. In other words, I suspect
that what is really animating the Court's judgment is the sense of outrage it
rightly experiences at the prospect of a man being sentenced to death on the
basis of the color of his skin. Perhaps the Court is slightly less troubled by the
prospect of a racially motivated conviction unaccompanied by the death
penalty, and I suppose that if, for some unimaginable reason, I had to choose
between the two cases, and could only rectify one, I would remedy the case
where death had been imposed. But there is no need to choose between the two
cases. To state what seems to me obvious, the constitutional right implicated is
the right to be judged by an impartial jury, regardless of the sentence, and the
constitutional focus thus belongs on whether there is a likelihood of bias, and
not on what flows from that bias. In Ham v. South Carolina, 409 U.S. 524, 93
S.Ct. 848, 35 L.Ed.2d 46 (1973), we reversed the conviction of a young black
man who was charged with and convicted of possession of marijuana; because
the man was known in the community as a civil rights activist, and because we
were persuaded that racial issues were inextricably bound up with the conduct
of the trial, we concluded that it was likely that any prejudice that individual
members of the jury might harbor would be intensified and held that under
those circumstances the trial judge was required to oblige the defense request to
inquire into the jury's possible racial bias. We did not reject the petitioner's
claim in that case because he was sentenced only to 18 months' imprisonment.
Surely one has a right to an impartial jury whether one is subject to punishment
for a day or a lifetime.
37
The Court may believe that it is being Solomonic in "splitting the difference" in
this case and granting petitioner a new sentencing hearing while denying him
the other "half" of the relief demanded. Starkly put, petitioner "wins" in that he
gets to be resentenced, while the State "wins" in that it does not lose its
conviction. But King Solomon did not, in fact, split the baby in two, and had he
done so, I suspect that he would be remembered less for his wisdom than for
his hardheartedness. Justice is not served by compromising principles in this
way. I would reverse the conviction as well as the sentence in this case to
insure compliance with the constitutional guarantee of an impartial jury.
38
39
For the reasons stated in my opinion in Ross v. Massachusetts, 414 U.S. 1080,
94 S.Ct. 599, 38 L.Ed.2d 486 (1973) (dissenting from denial of certiorari), I
believe that a criminal defendant is entitled to inquire on voir dire about the
potential racial bias of jurors whenever the case involves a violent interracial
crime. As the Court concedes, "it is plain that there is some risk of racial
prejudice influencing a jury whenever there is a crime involving interracial
violence." Ante, at 36, n. 8. To my mind that risk plainly outweighs the slight
cost of allowing the defendant to choose whether to make an inquiry
concerning such possible prejudice. This Court did not identify in Ristaino v.
Ross, 424 U.S. 589, 96 S.Ct. 1017, 47 L.Ed.2d 258 (1976), nor does it identify
today, any additional burdens that would accompany such a rule. I therefore
cannot agree with the Court's continuing rejection of the simple prophylactic
rule proposed in Ristaino.
40
Even if I agreed with the Court that a per se rule permitting inquiry into racial
bias is appropriate only in capital cases, I could not accept the Court's failure to
remedy the denial of such inquiry in this capital case by reversing petitioner's
conviction. Henceforth any capital defendant accused of an interracial crime
may inquire into racial prejudice on voir dire. When, as here, the same jury sits
at the guilt phase and the penalty phase, these defendants will be assured an
42
The Court today adopts a per se rule applicable in capital cases, under which "a
capital defendant accused of an interracial crime is entitled to have prospective
jurors informed of the race of the victim and questioned on the issue of racial
bias." Ante, at 36-37. This rule is certain to add to the already heavy burden of
habeas petitions filed by prisoners under sentence of death1 without affording
any real protection beyond that provided by our decisions in Ham v. South
Carolina, 409 U.S. 524, 93 S.Ct. 848, 35 L.Ed.2d 46 (1973), and Ristaino v.
Ross, 424 U.S. 589, 96 S.Ct. 1017, 47 L.Ed.2d 258 (1976).
43
In effect, the Court recognizes a presumption that jurors who have sworn to
decide the case impartially nevertheless are racially biased. Such a presumption
is flatly contrary to our decisions in Ristaino v. Ross, supra, and Rosales-Lopez
v. United States, 451 U.S. 182, 190, 101 S.Ct. 1629, 1635, 68 L.Ed.2d 22
(1981).2 The facts of this case demonstrate why it is unnecessary and unwise
for this Court to rule, as a matter of constitutional law, that a trial judge always
must inquire into racial bias in a capital case involving an interracial murder,
rather than leaving that decision to be made on a case-by-case basis.3 Before
today the facts that a defendant is black and his victim was white were
insufficient to raise "a constitutionally significant likelihood that, absent
questioning about racial prejudice," an impartial jury would not be seated.
Ristaino v. Ross, supra, 424 U.S., at 596, 96 S.Ct., at 1021.
44
* Nothing in this record suggests that racial bias played any role in the jurors'
deliberations. The relevant circumstances merit emphasis because they
demonstrate that the fact of an interracial murder, by itself, does not create a
substantial likelihood that racial issues can be expected to distort capital
sentencing trials. Without further evidence that race can be expected to be a
factor in such trials, there is no justification for departing from the rule of Ham
and Ristaino.
45
helplessly to the floor, bleeding from a scalp wound. A police officer, who had
arrived in answer to a silent alarm, pleaded with petitioner not to shoot again.
But petitioner fired two more shots into his victim's chest, causing his death.
The officer then managed to subdue and arrest petitioner. At trial, the evidence
of petitioner's guilt was conclusive.4 Because the local media gave the murder
extensive publicity, petitioner requested and was granted a change of venue
from Southampton County to Northampton County, across the Chesapeake Bay
some 80 miles away from the location of the murder. No member of the jury
empaneled had read or heard about the murder.
46
Virginia law vests the trial judge with the responsibility to conduct voir dire
examination of prospective jurors. Turner v. Commonwealth, 221 Va. 513, 519522, 273 S.E.2d 36, 40-42 (1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 1011, 101 S.Ct. 2347,
68 L.Ed.2d 863 (1981). Ordinarily, the judge, rather than counsel, questions
members of the venire to provide a basis for the exercise of challenges. In this
case, in accordance with state practice, the judge permitted the parties to
propose questions to be asked during voir dire. Counsel for petitioner submitted
15 questions. As the 10th question on his list, counsel requested the following:
47
" 'The defendant, Willie Lloyd Turner, is a member of the Negro race. The
victim, W. Jack Smith, Jr., was a white Caucasian. Will those facts prejudice
you against Willie Lloyd Turner or affect your ability to render a fair and
impartial verdict based solely on the evidence?' " Id., at 522, n. 8, 273 S.E.2d,
at 42, n. 8. 5
48
49
The trial judge declined to ask the proposed question, but he did ask general
questions designed to uncover bias. For example, the prospective jurors were
asked, "Do any of you know any reason whatsoever why you cannot render a
fair and impartial verdict in this case, either for the defendant or for the
Commonwealth of Virginia?" Each juror responded negatively.6 The jury of 12
persons ultimately empaneled included 4 black citizens, and a black juror was
selected to act as foreman.
50
There is nothing in the record of this trial that reflects racial overtones of any
kind. From voir dire through the close of trial, no circumstance suggests that
the trial judge's refusal to inquire particularly into racial bias posed "an
impermissible threat to the fair trial guaranteed by due process." Ristaino v.
Ross, 424 U.S., at 595, 96 S.Ct., at 1021. The Court does not purport to identify
any such circumstance, or to explain why the facts that a capital defendant is of
one race and his victim of another now create a significant likelihood that racial
issues will distort the jurors' consideration of the issues in the trial. Id., at 597,
96 S.Ct., at 1021-1022. This case illustrates that it is unnecessary for the Court
to adopt a per se rule that constitutionalizes the unjustifiable presumption that
jurors are racially biased.
II
51
52
54
55
Under the foregoing circumstances, there is no basis for concluding that the
jury's sentencing decision was tainted by racial bias. The mere fact that the
sentencing decision, after the jury had found guilt and the existence of
aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt, involved an element of
discretion provides no ground for this Court to presume that the decision was
infected by racial prejudice. Instead, the rule that until today afforded due
process required petitioner to establish that some special circumstances in his
case, beyond the fact of an interracial crime, raised a constitutionally significant
likelihood that racial prejudice would taint the proceedings. Ristaino v. Ross,
424 U.S., at 596, 96 S.Ct., at 1021. The Court rejects that rule, and adopts a
singularly unwise and unjustified presumption that capital jurors harbor latent
racial bias.
III
56
The per se rule announced today may appear innocuous. But the rule is based
on what amounts to a constitutional presumption that jurors in capital cases are
racially biased. Such presumption unjustifiably suggests that criminal justice in
our courts of law is meted out on racial grounds. It is not easy to reconcile the
Court's holding today with the principles announced and applied in Ham v.
South Carolina, Ristaino v. Ross, and Rosales-Lopez v. United States.10 The
manner in which petitioner was tried and sentenced, and particularly the jurors
who fulfilled their civic duty to sit in his case, reflected not a trace of the racial
prejudice that the Court's new rule now presumes.
57
In addition to Smith and Bain, a store employee and two customers were
present at this time.
Whether the trial judge was referring to this Court's decision in Ristaino v.
Ross, 424 U.S. 589, 96 S.Ct. 1017, 47 L.Ed.2d 258 (1976), or to a decision of
the Virginia Supreme Court, is unclear.
In Ham, a young black man known in his small South Carolina hometown as a
civil rights activist was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana. We
held that the trial judge committed reversible error in refusing to honor Ham's
request to question prospective jurors on racial prejudice. In Ristaino, supra, we
specified the factors which mandated an inquiry into racial prejudice in Ham:
"Ham's defense was that he had been framed because of his civil rights
activities. His prominence in the community as a civil rights activist, if not
already known to veniremen, inevitably would have been revealed to the
members of the jury in the course of his presentation of that defense. Racial
issues therefore were inextricably bound up with the conduct of the trial.
Further, Ham's reputation as a civil rights activist and the defense he interposed
were likely to intensify any prejudice that individual members of the jury might
harbor." 424 U.S., at 596-597, 96 S.Ct., at 1021.
The court also rejected petitioner's reliance on a statistical study showing that
black defendants who kill white victims are sentenced to death with
disproportionate frequency. The court stated that the study, which is based on
statistics compiled in other States, has little utility in establishing the potential
for racial prejudice in Virginia. 221 Va., at 523, n. 9, 273 S.E.2d, at 42, n. 9.
5
In Ristaino, the defendant was one of three black men charged with assaulting a
white security guard with intent to murder him. The assault occurred in the
course of a robbery. 424 U.S., at 590, 96 S.Ct., at 1018.
In referring to the facts of petitioner's crime, we do not retreat from our holding
in Ristaino. The fact of interracial violence alone is not a "special
circumstance" entitling the defendant to have prospective jurors questioned
about racial prejudice. It should be clear, though, that our holding in Ristaino
was not based on a blind belief that the facts presented in that case could not
evoke racial prejudice. As we stated in Rosales-Lopez v. United States, 451
U.S., at 192, 101 S.Ct., at 1636: "It remains an unfortunate fact in our society
that violent crimes perpetrated against members of other racial or ethnic groups
often raise [a reasonable possibility that racial prejudice would influence the
jury]." Ristaino does not condone this possibility, but simply leaves it to the
trial judge's discretion to decide what measures to take in screening out racial
prejudice, absent a showing of "significant likelihood that racial prejudice might
infect [the] trial." 424 U.S., at 598, 96 S.Ct., at 1022.
Justice POWELL's dissent takes issue with what he terms the "singularly
unwise and unjustified presumption that capital jurors harbor latent racial bias."
Post, at 53. This remark fails to distinguish between our recognition that jurors
in a capital case may harbor racial bias, and the presumption, which we do not
make, that any particular capital jurors are in fact racially prejudiced. Justice
POWELL implicitly recognizes such a distinction, but only when it suits his
purposes; thus, he does not say that in a case like Ham v. South Carolina, 409
U.S. 524, 93 S.Ct. 848, 35 L.Ed.2d 46 (1973), the jurors are presumed to be
prejudiced, but rather that there is "an unacceptable risk that racial prejudice
will 'distort the trial.' " Post, at 50.
Once rhetoric is put aside, it is plain that there is some risk of racial prejudice
10
Justice POWELL contends that inquiry into racial prejudice "in the absence of
circumstances that make clear a need for it could well have the negative effect
of suggesting to the jurors that race somehow is relevant to the case." Post, at
48-49, n. 5. Whether such a concern is purely chimerical or not is a decision we
leave up to a capital defendant's counsel. Should defendant's counsel decline to
request voir dire on the subject of racial prejudice, we in no way require or
suggest that the judge broach the topic sua sponte.
11
12
Justice BRENNAN incorrectly reads into our opinion a suggestion that "the
constitutional entitlement to an impartial jury attaches only at the sentencing
phase." Post, at 43. The real question is not whether there is a constitutional
right to an impartial jury throughout a criminal trial, see n. 9, supra, but what
prophylactic rules the Constitution imposes on the States in furtherance of that
right. What we held in Ristaino, and reaffirm today, is that absent "special
circumstances" that create a particularly compelling need to inquire into racial
prejudice, the Constitution leaves the conduct of voir dire to the sound
discretion of state trial judges.
The implication of Justice BRENNAN's opinion is that every crime of
interracial violence is a "special circumstance." Over Justice BRENNAN's
dissent, however, Ristaino squarely rejected this approach. Moreover, we are
unpersuaded by Justice BRENNAN's view that "the opportunity for racial bias
to taint the jury process is . . . equally a factor at the guilt [and sentencing]
phase[s] of a bifurcated capital trial." Post, at 41. As we see it, the risk of racial
This case has traveled through each layer of review provided to capital
defendants in our state and federal systems. On July 12, 1978, petitioner
committed the murder underlying this petition. Trial commenced on December
3, 1979, and the jury convicted petitioner on capital murder and other charges
on December 4, 1979. Following the jury's recommendation, the trial judge
sentenced petitioner to death on February 6, 1980. The Supreme Court of
Virginia affirmed the convictions and sentences. Turner v. Commonwealth, 221
Va. 513, 273 S.E.2d 36 (1980). This Court denied a petition for a writ of
certiorari. 451 U.S. 1011, 101 S.Ct. 2347, 68 L.Ed.2d 838 (1981). Petitioner
then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Circuit Court for the
County of Southampton. That court denied relief, and the Supreme Court of
Virginia denied review. We denied a petition for a writ of certiorari. Turner v.
Morris, 462 U.S. 1112, 103 S.Ct. 2465, 77 L.Ed.2d 1341 (1983). Then,
petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. By order entered May 23,
1984, the District Court denied the writ. The Court of Appeals for the Fourth
Circuit affirmed. Turner v. Bass, 753 F.2d 342 (1985). This Court granted
certiorari, 471 U.S. 1098, 105 S.Ct. 2319, 85 L.Ed.2d 838 (1985), and today
reverses.
"Despite its importance, the adequacy of voir dire is not easily subject to
appellate review. The trial judge's function at this point in the trial is not unlike
that of the jurors later on in the trial. Both must reach conclusions as to
At oral argument, counsel for petitioner conceded that there was no question as
to his client's guilt. Tr. of Oral Arg. 47.
In the event that the Court decides that this new rule is to be applied
prospectively only, the result of this decision will be to require trial judges to
ask prospective jurors this simplistic question on voir dire. Asking such a
question in the absence of circumstances that make clear a need for it could
well have the negative effect of suggesting to the jurors that race somehow is
relevant to the case.
The circumstances of Ham v. South Carolina, 409 U.S. 524, 93 S.Ct. 848, 35
L.Ed.2d 46 (1973), are illustrative. There, a black defendant was tried for
possession of marijuana. The defendant was well known in the community
where the case was tried for his civil rights activities, and the theory of his
defense was that the police had framed him in retaliation for those activities.
On those facts, the Court held that it was an unconstitutional abuse of discretion
for the judge to refuse to inquire into racial prejudice. Not only were racial
issues a central part of the trial, but also the defendant's "reputation as a civil
rights activist and the defense he interposed were likely to intensify any
prejudice that individual members of the jury might harbor." Ristaino v. Ross,
424 U.S., at 597, 96 S.Ct., at 1021.
The Supreme Court of Virginia properly has given the "vileness" clause a
limiting construction to ensure that the jury's discretion in recommending
capital punishment is channeled by appropriate standards. See Godfrey v.
Georgia, 446 U.S. 420, 100 S.Ct. 1759, 64 L.Ed.2d 398 (1980). Sentence of
death may be imposed on the basis of this aggravating factor only if the State
makes a two-pronged showing. First, the State must prove beyond a reasonable
doubt that the defendant's conduct was " 'outrageously or wantonly vile,
horrible or inhuman.' " Turner v. Commonwealth, 221 Va., at 526, 273 S.E.2d,
at 44-45. Second, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt "torture of
the victim, an aggravated battery of the victim, or the perpetrator's depravity of
mind." Id., at 526, 273 S.E.2d, at 45.
10
The Court's opinion purports to reaffirm Ristaino v. Ross, ante, at 35, n. 7, and
would distinguish all three of the above-cited decisions on the ground that none
of them was a capital case. The decision today cannot be reconciled with the
reasoning of Ristaino and Rosales-Lopez in which we expressly held that the
Constitution does not require voir dire questioning on racial bias unless the
defendant proves additional circumstances beyond the fact that the case
involves an interracial crime. Moreover, those two cases rejected any
constitutional presumption that jurors are racially biased.