State v. Fire

— Mink Fire appeals his convictions of three counts of first degree child molestation, contending that the trial court erred by refusing to dismiss for cause a potential juror who admitted actual bias, but then responded to the prosecutor’s leading questions about being fair and following instructions with one-word affirmative answers. Although appellate courts defer to a trial judge’s determinations of a potential juror’s credibility, character, mental habits, and demeanor, there is no indication in the record that the trial judge made any such determinations in this case. The trial judge…