Jose Alejandro Acuna Valenzuela v. Arizona
DueProcess Punishment Securities
I. Whether the trial court violated Mr. Acuna's constitutional rights to a fair and impartial jury, to due process, to heightened reliability, and to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, by failing to strike a prospective juror for cause who had a close personal relationship with a member of the prosecutor's office and who could not unequivocally state that the relationship would not affect her ability to be fair and impartial.
II. Whether the trial court violated Mr. Acuna's constitutional rights to a fair and impartial jury and to due process by denying Mr. Acuna's motion to vacate judgment after Mr. Acuna discovered that the juror who had a close personal relationship with a member of the prosecutor's office published an online blog demonstrating that she had lied about the extent of her pro-State/anti-defense bias at voir dire.
Whether the trial court violated Mr. Acuna's constitutional rights to a fair and impartial jury, to due process, to heightened reliability, and to be free from cruel and unusual punishment