SULLIVAN, J.
Whiting contends that the trial judge erred by not excusing Juror Wright for cause and, as a result, that she was denied her right to a fair trial before an impartial jury. The State counters that this claim is procedurally defaulted, and thus unavailable for review, because Whiting chose not to remove Juror Wright with one of her peremptory strikes. In response, Whiting acknowledges failing to exhaust her peremptory challenges but claims that the so-called “exhaustion rule” should not apply in criminal trials; alternatively, she claims that Juror Wright’s service on the jury constituted fundamental error, thereby excusing any procedural default.
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In sum, Whiting’s claim of error regarding the trial court’s refusal to dismiss Juror Wright for cause is procedurally defaulted. We continue to adhere to the exhaustion rule in both civil and criminal cases because of the sound policy supporting it. And Whiting’s challenges to its soundness and validity in criminal cases do not withstand scrutiny.
Whiting seeks to escape procedural default by invoking our fundamental-error doctrine. Her argument that we should review her procedurally defaulted claim for fundamental error has some persuasive force. After all, “[a] fair trial in a fair tribunal is a basic requirement of due process.” In re Murchison, 349 U.S. 133, 136 (1955). That said, our examination of the case law reveals no cases in which we have applied the fundamental-error doctrine to excuse procedural default under the exhaustion rule, and it appears that neither this Court nor the Court of Appeals has even considered applying the fundamental-error exception in this context.
It is not surprising that there is no precedent in this regard. When default occurs under the exhaustion rule, the defendant has objected to a juror and the trial judge has rendered a decision based on counsel’s arguments and what the judge has observed during voir dire. This circumstance is inconsistent with the underlying premise of fundamental-error review because, at bottom, the fundamental-error doctrine asks whether the error was so egregious and abhorrent to fundamental due process that the trial judge should or should not have acted, irrespective of the parties’ failure to object or otherwise preserve the error for appeal. A finding of fundamental error essentially means that the trial judge erred either by not acting when he or she should have . . . . Here, the claim is not that the trial judge failed to act even though not being asked to do so but that he made the wrong decision after being asked to act. And there is no basis in the record for claiming that the judge acted in a grossly prejudicial manner when he denied the challenge.
Moreover, applying the fundamental-error exception in this context would both weaken the exhaustion rule and utilize fundamental error not as a “narrow exception” but as the general rule. . . . .
Finally, not reviewing for fundamental error in this context does not necessarily end the matter. Whiting and other similarly situated defendants may seek relief through a claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel under the well-established standard of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). . . . .
In sum, we hold that Whiting’s juror-bias claim is procedurally defaulted because she failed to exhaust her peremptory challenges. We also hold that a procedural default under the exhaustion rule is not amenable to fundamental-error review.
Dickson, C.J., and Rucker, David, and Massa, JJ., concur.