State v. Magee, 150 So. 3d 446

Magee was convicted of second degree murder and two counts of assault by drive-by shooting; conviction affirmed on appeal.
Witnesses testified that Magee fired at a Nissan Maxima after it and his truck were observed together on Ames Boulevard.
Physical evidence linked Magee to the crime (gun in backpack with his name, shell casings matching the firearm).
Defendant at trial admitted involvement but implicated his cousin as the shooter; defense presented shooting-reconstruction expert testimony.
Surveillance footage and eyewitness identifications supported Magee as the shooter; a recorded jail conversation with his mother was excluded as hearsay.
Defendant challenged a juror for cause and sought to admit a jailhouse recording to rebut a recent fabrication claim; both rulings challenged on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Challenge for cause re Lozano jury member	Lozano implied bias due to family murder victim status	Denial of challenge for cause produced prejudice	Not an abuse of discretion; denial affirmed
Admissibility of jail conversation to rebut recent fabrication	Conversation would rebut State's fabrication claim	Conversation admissible under 801(D)(1)(b) to rebut fabrication	Exclusion proper; if error, harmless given strong other evidence

State v. Thom, 615 So.2d 355 (La. App. 5 Cir. 1993) (jury bias from relative’s crime not determinative; must assess fairness)
State v. Chambers, 758 So.2d 231 (La. App. 3 Cir. 2000) (trial court may deny for-cause in death-of-relative context when juror remains impartial)
State v. Bourque, 622 So.2d 198 (La. 1993) (prejudice presumed if a cause challenge is denied after peremptories exhausted)
State v. Lee, 637 So.2d 102 (La. 1994) (voir dire discretion; appellate review is deferential)
State v. Ross, 623 So.2d 643 (La. 1993) (reversal for cause errors tied to peremptory exhaustion)
State v. Jun iors, 915 So.2d 291 (La. 2006) (art. 797 abuse-of-discretion standard for cause challenges)
State v. Eskano, 779 So.2d 148 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2001) (relevance of voir dire and impartiality in similar-crime contexts)
State v. Collins, 359 So.2d 174 (La. 1978) (impartiality and law-applied assessment in juror challenges)
State v. Seals, 684 So.2d 368 (La. 1997) (limits on challenges and admission of information regarding juror bias)
State v. Labostrie, 358 So.2d 1243 (La. 1978) (scope of trial-court discretion in voir dire)
State v. Mickel, 961 So.2d 516 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2007) (exhaustion of peremptories required to preserve error claims)