Samuel Allen Webb, Appellant v. the State of Texas

Summary

The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the court of appeals' judgment upholding the trial court's denial of Webb's post-verdict motions for mistrial and new trial. It held that Webb forfeited his challenge for cause based on a juror's undisclosed service on the grand jury that indicted him, because he failed to ask voir dire questions specific enough to uncover that statutory ground and never challenged the venirewoman, and it deferred to the trial court's finding that the juror recalled no case facts and was not biased. It further held that the prosecution's failure to disclose the possibility that the complainant would file a civil suit was not material under Brady, given the abundant other impeachment evidence and the absence of any reasonable probability of a different outcome. Justice Holcomb, joined by Justice Johnson, dissented, contending that the general voir dire question about case discussions sufficed to preserve the challenge, that the juror was impliedly biased as a matter of law, and that the trial court abused its discretion.