Timothy Carl Shane, Appellant v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Appellee

Summary

The court held that the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to strike a police-officer juror whose voir dire responses showed a probability of bias, and that forcing the defendant to use a peremptory challenge to remove that juror violated a substantial state-law right that could not be treated as harmless error. The court overruled the contrary harmless-error rule and reversed for a new trial. It also held that the eleven-year pre-indictment delay did not violate due process because the defendant showed no intentional delay designed to gain a tactical advantage. Justice Scott, concurring in part and dissenting in part, would have affirmed because the challenged juror did not serve and the error was harmless.