Opinion ID: 2085662
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Ex Parte Communications Between Court and Jury

Text: The jury announced they were deadlocked at 8 p.m. The court instructed the bailiff, without informing the parties, to tell them to continue deliberating. The jury indicated at midnight they had reached a verdict on one count, but were at an impasse on the other. Again, the court told the bailiff to tell the jury to continue deliberating. Then, the bailiff contacted defense counsel and the prosecution. Lott says that the court's failure to notify the parties of these communications requires reversal. When the jury requests additional guidance from the court, proper trial procedure requires both parties be notified. Moffatt v. State, 542 N.E.2d 971 (Ind.1989); Ind. Code Ann. § 34-1-21-6 (West 1983). This Court will not reverse for improper ex parte communication, however, unless harm or prejudice resulted from that communication. Moffatt, 542 N.E.2d at 974. In Nichols v. State, 591 N.E.2d 134 (Ind. 1992), a strikingly similar situation occurred. The jury started deliberating at about 3:30 p.m. Four and a half hours later they sent a note explaining that they had reached a verdict on one count, but were deadlocked on the other. The court returned a note instructing them to continue deliberating. Less than thirty-minutes later the jury reached a verdict on both counts. We held that the court's instruction did not result in harm or prejudice. The same result obtained in Wine v. State, 539 N.E.2d 932 (Ind.1989). In Wine, the jury indicated they were unable to reach a decision, and the court instructed the jury to deliberate for one more hour. This Court held that failure to notify the parties did not constitute reversible error. Id. Here, the trial court's unadorned communications with the jury did not coerce a verdict or prejudice Lott. He is not entitled to a reversal on these grounds.