Cite as: 509 U. S. 350 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
The father also testified that his son had been a regular churchgoer and his problems were attributable in large part to the death of his mother following a stroke in 1984 and the murder of his sister in 1985. Finally, the senior Johnson testified to his son's remorse over the killing of Huddleston.
At the voir dire phase of the proceedings, during which more than 90 prospective jurors were questioned over the course of 15 days, petitioner's counsel asked the venireper-sons whether they believed that people were capable of change and whether the venirepersons had ever done things as youths that they would not do now. See, e. g., Tr. of Voir Dire in No. 5575 (132d Jud. Dist. Ct., Scurry County, Tex.), pp. 1526-1529 (Juror Swigert); id., at 1691-1692 (Juror Freeman); id., at 2366 (Juror Witte); id., at 2630-2632 (Juror Raborn).3 Petitioner's counsel returned to this theme in his closing argument:
"The question—the real question, I think, is whether you believe that there is a possibility that he can change. You will remember that that was one thing every one of you told me you agreed—every one of you agreed with me that people can change. If you agree that people can change, then that means that Dorsie can change and that takes question two [regarding future dangerousness] out of the realm of probability and into possibility,
3 The colloquy on this point between petitioner's counsel and Juror Ra-born is illustrative of the discussions had with the other jurors:
"Q. Okay. Do you feel that—let me ask you this. Do you feel a person who is—or a young person will do things that they will not do in later years, thirty or forty—
"A. I believe that. "Q. Do you believe that people can change? "A. Yes, I believe they can. I've known some that have. "Q. Do you think that the way a person acts in the present or the past or how he has acted in the past is an absolute indicator of what he will do in the future, thirty or forty years down the road?
"A. No, not on down the line. Like I say, you can change." Tr. of Voir Dire, at 2630-2631.
357
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007