Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/24/324.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 14:18:31+00:00

Document:
Richard E. Erwin, Public Defender, Kenneth Cleaver, Assistant Public Defender, Ronald E. Balle and Kelton Lee Gibson, Deputy Public Defenders, for Petitioner.
C. Stanley Trom, District Attorney, Raymond J, Sinetar, Chief Deputy District Attorney, and Jay M. Johnson, Jr., Deputy District Attorney, for Real Party in Interest.
Petitioner, Armando Larios, seeks a writ of prohibition to prevent further criminal proceedings against him. This court must determine whether a retrial of this case would violate a person's right not to be placed twice in jeopardy.
Petitioner was charged with the robbery of a dairy store in which $250 was taken. A jury was impaneled and sworn without alternates. Petitioner testified in his own defense that he was not in the dairy store on May 13, the day of the robbery. He testified that on that morning, he had gone with a cousin to Two Guys Department Store to buy some blue jeans which were advertised on sale. The store was closed when they arrived, however, and they started to walk home. Shortly thereafter, they were arrested by Oxnard police in connection with the robbery.
On rebuttal, Police Officer Elliott testified that he was told by petitioner after his arrest that while at Two Guys that morning, petitioner had seen posters advertising the sale on the store's windows. Officer Elliott testified that later that day, he went to Two Guys and could find no such posters. Following this testimony, the jury was instructed and began its deliberations.
During deliberations, a juror passed the trial judge a note asking if it were possible to consider information which was not submitted at trial. On defense counsel's motion, the court summoned the jury and asked [24 Cal. 3d 328] whether any of them had conducted an independent investigation. Juror Freear said he had done so. The court then held a brief hearing on the matter outside the presence of the other jurors.
Freear testified that he was employed by the Ventura Star-Press, a newspaper which carried advertising for the Two Guys Department Store. During a trial recess, Freear had gone back through his newspaper files. He found advertising inserts indicating that although Two Guys had had a Levis sale beginning on May 10, there was no sale on May 13, the morning of the robbery. Freear indicated his belief that this information corroborated Officer Elliott's testimony that on the afternoon of the robbery there were no posters advertising a blue jean sale at Two Guys.
Freear made clear that no one else on the jury was aware of the information he had obtained. However, Freear himself believed that the information would affect his ability to judge the case fairly since he "would be inclined" to determine the credibility of the witnesses based on what he had observed in the newspapers. He also stated, "I don't think it would be fair to Mr. Larios if I would use that or use that to influence the rest of the jury."
 Article I, section 15 of the California Constitution provides that "[p]ersons may not twice be put in jeopardy for the same offense." (See also § 1023.) fn. 2 Under this command, once a criminal defendant is placed on trial and the jury is duly impaneled and sworn, a discharge of the jury without a verdict is equivalent to an acquittal and bars retrial unless (1) the defendant consents to the discharge or (2) legal necessity requires it. (E.g., People v. Rojas (1975) 15 Cal. 3d 540, 545 [125 Cal. Rptr. 357, 542 P.2d 229]; Curry v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal. 3d 707, 712-713 [87 Cal. Rptr. 361, 470 P.2d 345].
In the present case, the statements of the juror in question were not equivocal. Freear testified that he would be inclined to resolve credibility questions based on his independent investigation. He also indicated that his investigation would affect his ability to judge the case fairly. Thus, if appellant had objected to Freear's remaining on the jury, or if an alternate juror had been available, the judge could have properly dismissed Freear from the jury.
Under Curry, even "palpably prejudicial errors" in evidentiary rulings do not give rise to legal necessity for declaring a mistrial without the [24 Cal. 3d 332] defendant's consent. (See ibid.) There is no reason why palpably prejudiciaI errors consisting of a juror's misconduct should have a different effect. Indeed, Curry guarantees an accused the freedom to choose to proceed with his original jury, even though all its members have been exposed to prejudical error. It would be anomalous to deny petitioner that same freedom of choice where the error involved only one juror.
 Section 1123 makes no mention of the critical term "legal necessity," which is constitutionally required before a jury may be discharged without the consent of the accused. (People v. Compton, supra, 6 Cal.3d at p. 59; Curry v. Superior Court, supra, 2 Cal.3d at p. 712.) [24 Cal. 3d 333] Since a statute may not override a constitutional requirement, section 1123 must be read to authorize mistrials only where there is consent or where "good cause" amounts to "legal necessity."
Petitioner's jury was dismissed without his consent and without legal necessity after jeopardy attached. The constitutional guarantee against double jeopardy bars a second trial. Let a peremptory writ of prohibition issue as prayed.
Were this a matter of first impression, we should hold defendant's failure to object constitutes consent to the declaration of a mistrial, estopping him from now entering a plea of once in jeopardy.
The purpose of the constitutional provision against double jeopardy is to prevent harassment of a defendant by repeated trials on the same criminal charge. (People v. Upshaw (1974) 13 Cal. 3d 29, 34 [117 Cal. Rptr. 668, 528 P.2d 756].) That purpose is not served by barring further trial in this case, for there is not the slightest hint of intent to harass here. To the contrary, it is absolutely clear that the mistrial was declared solely to protect defendant's constitutional right to an unbiased jury. Because the action was taken for defendant's benefit, his silence may reasonably be understood as acquiescence. To permit defendant to assert the bar of [24 Cal. 3d 334] former jeopardy in these circumstances elevates form over sense, frustrating substantial justice. This court has before held defendant's failure to object does not constitute consent to declaration of mistrial. (See Curry v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal. 3d 707, 713 [87 Cal. Rptr. 361, 470 P.2d 345]; People v. Compton (1971) 6 Cal. 3d 55, 63 [98 Cal. Rptr. 217, 490 P.2d 537]; see also People v. Valenti (1957) 49 Cal. 2d 199, 202, 208-209 [316 P.2d 633].) In deference to the doctrine of stare decisis, I reluctantly concur in today's judgment.
FN 1. Penal Code section 1120: "If a juror has any personal knowledge respecting a fact in controversy in a cause, he must declare the same in open court during the trial. If, during the retirement of the jury, a juror declare a fact which could be evidence in the cause, as of his own knowledge, the jury must return into court. In either of these cases, the juror making the statement must be sworn as a witness and examined in the presence of the parties in order that the court may determine whether good cause exists for his discharge as a juror."
Penal Code section 1123 provides in pertinent part: "If before the jury has returned its verdict into court, a juror becomes sick or upon other good cause shown to the court is found to be unable to perform his duty, the court may order him to be discharged. If ... there be no alternate juror [and] a juror becomes sick or otherwise unable to perform his duty and has been discharged by the court as provided herein, the jury shall be discharged and a new jury then or afterwards impaneled, and the cause may be again tried."
Hereinafter, all statutory references are to the Penal Code.
FN 2. "When the defendant is convicted or acquitted or has been once placed in jeopardy upon an accusatory pleading, the conviction, acquittal, or jeopardy is a bar to another prosecution for the offense charged in such accusatory pleading, or for an attempt to commit the same, or for an offense necessarily included therein, of which he might have been convicted under that accusatory pleading."
FN 3. In addition, the Devlin opinion misstates the law in asserting that "a juror may be discharged, without jeopardy attaching, if 'good cause' for the discharge exists." (Id., at p. 813, italics added.) In a jury triaI, jeopardy attaches when a defendant is placed on trial on a valid accusatory pleading and the jury is impaneled and sworn. (Bunnell v. Superior Court, supra, 13 Cal.3d at p. 601.) Thereafter, the proper discharge of the jury does not mean that jeopardy never attached. Rather, it means that "legal necessity" removed the bar to retrial, even though jeopardy had once attached.

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