United States v. Kechedzian

The Ninth Circuit reversed defendant's conviction for possession of unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft, holding that the district court erred by failing to excuse a juror for cause under an actual bias theory. The panel held that when a juror was unable to state that she would serve fairly and impartially despite being asked repeatedly for such assurances, the panel could have no confidence that the juror would lay aside her biases or her prejudicial personal experiences and render a fair and impartial verdict. In this case, there was concern about whether Juror No. 3 could put her social security theft five years ago out of her mind. View "United States v. Kechedzian" on Justia Law