Office of Attorney General Pam Bondi
Criminal Law Alert
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Date issued: 03/31/2009
Editor: Carolyn Snurkowski
Clicking the icon following the number of each case cited below will link you directly to the cited opinion. In addition, full texts of recent slip opinions are available by clicking "VIEW" at the top of your screen, then "SLIP OPINIONS." AGOs are available in the separate AGO database.
United States Supreme Court
Criminal conviction need not always be overturned if a juror was wrongly seated after being opposed by a defense lawyer’s peremptory challenge. Summary by SCOTUS.
Rivera v. Illinois, 07-9995. Decided March 31, 2009.
The Court unanimously held that a trial court’s erroneous denial of a criminal defendant’s peremptory challenge, which resulted in the challenged juror being seated, does not violate the Due Process Clause. The Court held that the wrongful denial of a peremptory challenge to which the defendant was entitled under state law constitutes a violation of state law only; “errors of state law do not automatically become violations of due process.”
Decision: