State v. Papasavvas

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

O’HERN, J.

In this capital case a jury has convicted defendant of murder and recommended that he be sentenced to death. Defendant contends that he was denied a fair trial. The major contentions in his appeal are that (1) the jury selection process (the voir dire) was so inadequate that it violated defendant’s constitutional rights to a fair trial; (2) that the trial court failed to excuse three jurors whose views in favor of the death penalty substantially interfered with the performance of their duties as jurors; (3) that, conversely, the trial court…