88 N.Y.2d 519 (1996)
CPL 270.15 allows trial courts flexibility in jury selection, permitting methods where the prosecution exercises peremptory challenges before the defendant, without requiring the prosecution to exhaust all challenges to the entire panel at once.
Summary
The case addresses whether New York’s Criminal Procedure Law (CPL 270.15) mandates the prosecution to make all peremptory challenges to a jury array before the defendant makes any, or if the court can require sequential challenges to individual jurors or subsets. The Court of Appeals held that CPL 270.15 allows trial courts flexibility in jury selection as long as the prosecution exercises peremptory challenges before the defendant and doesn’t challenge a juror already accepted by both parties. This decision upheld the trial courts’ methods and affirmed the defendants’ convictions.
Facts
In People v. Alston, after initial rounds of jury selection, the trial court directed the parties to exercise peremptory challenges to the first five prospective jurors to complete the jury. The defendant objected, arguing the prosecution had to challenge the entire panel. In People v. Morris, the court instructed attorneys to make peremptory challenges juror by juror, with the prosecution going first. The defendant objected, arguing CPL 270.15 required the prosecution to exhaust all peremptory challenges against the entire panel before the defense made any.
Procedural History
Both defendants appealed their convictions, arguing that the trial courts’ methods violated CPL 270.15. The Appellate Division rejected these arguments. The cases were consolidated on appeal to the New York Court of Appeals due to the similar issue regarding jury selection procedures.
Issue(s)
Whether CPL 270.15 mandates that the prosecution exercise all peremptory challenges to a particular array of jurors before the defendant is required to exercise any peremptory challenges to that array, or whether the trial court has discretion to implement alternative methods.
Holding
No, because CPL 270.15 provides flexibility in jury selection, permitting methods where the prosecution exercises peremptory challenges before the defendant, and the prosecution does not challenge a juror already accepted by both parties, consistent with the statute’s language and history.
Court’s Reasoning
The Court of Appeals found that CPL 270.15 allows flexibility in jury selection. Specifically, the court noted the ambiguity in CPL 270.15 (2), stating that the phrase “[t]he people must exercise their peremptory challenges first” can be interpreted to mean that each prosecution challenge must precede each defense challenge, rather than requiring all prosecution challenges to precede any defense challenges. The court reasoned that interpreting the statute to require the prosecution to exhaust all peremptory challenges to the entire panel would give some defendants a tactical advantage, dependent on the judge’s discretionary decisions regarding filling the jury box. Quoting People v. McQuade, the court acknowledged that “the requirement…that the People shall challenge first, is the only substantial advantage remaining to a defendant.” The Court found that the historical rule that the People make peremptory challenges first, and never be permitted to go back and challenge a juror accepted by the defense was not violated by the juror-by-juror method. The dissent argued the statute plainly requires the People to exercise all peremptory challenges to the panel “first,” before the defense begins and that once the defense exercises its challenge or challenges, the statute precludes the People from challenging any juror then in the box, not just those jurors in the box whom “both sides have had an opportunity” to challenge.