nila wacaser
Nila Wacaser, State v. Wacaser, 794 S.W.2d 190 (Mo. 1990)
Nila Wacaser was accused of killing her two sons and convicted of first degree murder of her 8 year old son. After the jury was unable to agree on whether to impose life or death, the trial judge sentenced her to death, finding three statutory aggravators.
Wacaser’s death sentence was reversed and remanded for a new trial. In 1992, the jury at her second trial convicted her of first-degree murder, but she committed suicide before her sentencing hearing.
Error in Denying Challenge for Cause
On direct appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed Wacaser’s conviction and sentence, holding that under Missouri law the trial court should have sustained Wacaser’s challenge for cause to a juror who had formed an opinion on the matter of punishment (in favor of death anytime a child is involved) and gave no assurances that he would be likely to change his opinion. 794 S.W.2d at 192-193. The Court declined to adopt an Oklahoma rule held to be permissible under the federal constitution, in which reversible error in the overruling of a meritorious challenge for cause cannot be established unless the defendant is forced to accept the challenged juror. Even though the juror’s uncertainty had only to do with the punishment, the Court held the error required a new trial because Wacaser was entitled to a panel of jurors which did not include the objectionable juror before she was obliged to proceed with her peremptory strikes; the error “effectively reduced her peremptory challenges.” 794 S.W.2dat 194. The Court further explained that prejudice was not averted simply because the judge and not the jury assessed the punishment. The composition of the jury remains important in such cases because the judge’s authority to fix the punishment at death is limited to a situation in which the jury is unable to agree on the sentence.