State v. Latour

Opinion

KATZ, J.

The dispositive issue in this direct appeal is whether the denial of a defendant’s request to exercise a peremptory challenge of a venireperson, who served solely as an alternate, can constitute an impropriety that requires a new trial in the absence of an analysis on the issue of harm. The defendant, Michael J. Latour, appeals from the trial court’s judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, claiming that the trial court improperly denied his peremptory challenge of a venireperson and that the impropriety was a structural error requiring a new trial. We affirm the…