law-jury-selection

law-jury-selection | Batson challenge |

JURY SELECTION ERRORS

Race-based exclusions of jurors violate the equal protection rights of the excluded jurors and the litigants. See
Goode v. Shoukfeh, 943 S.W.2d 441, 445 (Tex. 1997). But to preserve a complaint about the racial composition
of the jury, a party must timely object. See In re C.O.S., 988 S.W.2d 760, 766 (Tex. 1999); see also In re K.M.B.,
91 S.W.3d 18, 27 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth 2002, no pet.) (stating that, to preserve challenge to racial composition
of jury, party must object before jury is sworn).

A procedural error in selecting a jury is not a fundamental constitutional error immune from harmless error
analysis. See Rivas, 480 S.W.2d at 611–12; Wells, 153 S.W.3d at 518. The harmless error standard of review
has a long history in Texas jurisprudence, see, e.g., Robert W. Calvert, The Development of the Doctrine of
Harmless Error in Texas, 31 Texas. L. Rev. 1 (1952), and serves important policy interests of judicial efficiency by
constraining appellate courts’ authority to order new trials to those circumstances in which the substantial rights
of the litigants have been affected by the error. See, e.g., Tex. R. Civ. P. 434, general commentary (1966)
(discussing origin and purpose of harmless error standard) (superseded by Tex. R. App. P. 44.1 (1997)); W.
Wendall Hall, Hall’s Standards of Review, 42 St. Mary’s L.J. 1, 245–46 (2010).

JURY SELECTION CASES

Marcum v. Marcum (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] June 12, 2008)(Alcala)
(divorce case, property division, alter ego, piercing corporate veil, jury selection, peremptory challenges)
AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Alcala
Before Justices Nuchia, Alcala and Hanks
01-04-01062-CV Kenneth Ray Marcum v. Darlene J. Marcum
Appeal from 245th District Court of Harris County
Trial Court Judge: Hon. Annette Ga lik

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