State v. Deaner

The appellant, Betty Deaner, appeals from an order by the Circuit Court of Berkeley County which confirmed her conviction of welfare fraud and sentenced her to a one-to-five year prison term. One of her assignments of error, the trial court’s failure to conduct further inquiry of two prospective jurors who had indicated possible prejudice, is dispositive, rendering it unnecessary to address the remainder of her assignments.

During voir dire of the jury panel, two prospective jurors reponded affirmatively to the questions, “Are there members of the jury panel who have made any statements to…