Morales

Henry Morales, Jr., was convicted of burglary (Pen. Code,* § 459) by a jury verdict. He appeals, contending his constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury was infringed by the trial court’s imposition of unreasonable time limits upon voir dire. We find nothing wrong with the procedure followed by the trial court: it acted well within the reasonable bounds of discretion.

Factual and Procedural Background

In an information filed September 18, 1986, Morales was charged with one count of residential burglary (§ 459) and a special enhancing allegation (§ 667.5, subd. (b)) that within the past five years he had served a prison term for receiving stolen property (§496.1). On Monday, December 1, 1986, jury selection began for Morales’s trial. The court was using the “six-pack” method of jury selection under which 17 names were drawn initially and subjected to voir dire by court and counsel. One was excused by stipulation. Early Tuesday morning December 2, the examination of this first group was completed; the People thereupon exercised three peremptories, and Morales two peremptories, reducing the number in the jury box to eleven. A group of six names was then drawn…