Sherman Kier was convicted by a jury of the offense of child molestation. Following entry of judgment on the verdict, Kier appeals, contending in his sole enumeration of error that the trial court erred in refusing to strike a juror for cause. We agree and reverse. 1. During voir dire, a potential juror identified himself as an employee at the jail where Kier had been housed prior to trial. Kier sought to excuse that juror for cause. At a bench conference, the trial court asked the juror whether he knew Kier “from . . . anywhere.” The juror responded, “just passing at the jail.” On further inquiry by the trial court, the juror stated that this knowledge would have no bearing on his feelings about Kier’s guilt or innocence. The court asked the juror if the fact of Kier’s incarceration would cause him to have a predisposition about Kier’s guilt or innocence, and the juror answered, “No, I understand the process.” He stated that he understood Kier was presumed innocent and that he had no independent knowledge of the charges against Kier. The prosecutor asked, “if selected as a juror would you be able to essentially keep that information to yourself, that you’ve seen him at the jail, that he is, in fact, in jail right now” The juror responded, “Right.” The prosecutor informed the juror that he would not be permitted to mention the fact that he had seen Kier in jail, and the juror stated that this “wouldn’t be a problem.”
On inquiry by defense counsel, the juror stated that he was not familiar with any disciplinary proceedings in which Kier may have been involved and would not share the fact of Kier’s incarceration with other jurors. The court refused to strike the juror for cause, finding that the juror was “very candid” and had indicated that he could set his knowledge aside and make a decision based on the evidence and the law. In making its decision, the court further relied on the juror’s statement that he would not share his special knowledge concerning Kier with the other jurors. Kier used one of his peremptory strikes to remove the juror.
