United States v. Joe Don Baldwin

Appellant, Joe Don Baldwin, was indicted, tried, and convicted of one count under 18 U.S.C. § 641 of stealing cacti from United States government-owned land. His conviction was based primarily upon the testimony of two agents of the Arizona Commission of Agriculture and Horticulture, and also upon the expert testimony of a professor of dendrochronology at the Laboratory of Tree Ring Research, University of Arizona.

Baldwin’s primary contention on appeal is that the lower court committed reversible error by conducting an inadequate voir dire of the prospective jurors. Pursuant to F.R. Cr.P. Rule 24(a), the Court conducted the voir dire, allowing both parties to submit written voir dire questions in advance. Although Baldwin submitted eleven (11) questions, the Court accepted essentially only one, relating to whether any venireperson had been the victim of a theft. In particular, the Court refused to ask the following two questions: 1) Whether any of the prospective jurors would give greater or lesser weight to the testimony of a law enforcement officer, by the mere reason of his/her position; 2) Whether any of the prospective jurors were acquainted with any of the prospective…