State v. Singletary

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Pashman, J.

The issue raised by this appeal is whether, under the facts of this case, the trial court’s refusal to excuse for cause a prospective juror who had been the recent victim of a crime similar in nature to that with which a defendant was charged constituted reversible error, where the juror was subsequently excused through defendant’s exercise of a peremptory challenge. The Appellate Division held that in the present case such a refusal amounted to prejudicial error, and ordered that defendant be given a new trial. We conclude that the trial…