California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Williams, 174 Cal.Rptr. 317, 29 Cal.3d 392, 628 P.2d 869 (Cal. 1981):
The court was apparently aware when it denied counsel's motion that the outcome of the case was likely to turn on whether the jury found that defendant killed in justifiable self-defense. A juror who firmly believed that all passive means of self-defense should be utilized before employing deadly force would find it difficult to judge defendant's conduct objectively under our law. A statement of general willingness to apply unspecified self-defense principles is not a sufficient guarantee of impartial application of a rule so important to the case and so likely to encounter opposition. As noted above, "Careful counsel would exercise a peremptory challenge if a juror replied that he could accept (a) proposition of law on an intellectual level but that it troubled him viscerally ...." (United States v. Blount, supra, 479 F.2d 650 at p. 651.)
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.