People v. Robinson

In People v. Robinson, 154 Mich App 92; 397 NW2d 229 (1986), the Court affirmed the conviction of a defendant and, in so doing, rejected the defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel claim stemming from an alleged failure to challenge jurors who indicated they were previous victims of crimes involving larceny. The Court stated: A reviewing court cannot see the jurors or listen to their answers to voir dire questions. A juror's race, facial expression, or manner of answering a question may be important to a lawyer selecting a jury. A lawyer's hunches, based on his observations, may be as valid as any method of choosing a jury. Defense counsel may want to retain certain prospective jurors, especially, and be willing to express satisfaction so the prosecution will not or cannot eliminate them. Our research has found no case in Michigan where defense counsel's failure to challenge a juror or jurors has been held to be ineffective assistance of counsel. We cannot imagine a case where a court would so hold, and we do not so hold in this case. Id. at 95.