Opinion ID: 397156
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Release of the Jury from Sequestration; Voir Dire of the Jury

Text: 61 Appellants contend that the court's release of the jury from sequestration in the midst of considerable local media coverage concerning the trial denied them a fair trial by an impartial jury unaffected by prejudicial publicity. They also maintain that the general or collective voir dire was inadequate. 62 Before a reversal will lie on the ground that the district court erred in releasing the jury from sequestration, appellants must demonstrate a substantial likelihood that some prejudice did result. United States v. Harris, 458 F.2d 670, 675 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 888, 93 S.Ct. 195, 34 L.Ed.2d 145 (1972). See United States v. Arciniega, 574 F.2d 931, 933 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 437 U.S. 908, 98 S.Ct. 3101, 57 L.Ed.2d 1140 (1978) ((T) he decision to allow a jury to separate rests within the sound discretion of the district court, and ... for separation to constitute reversible error there must be an objection supported by specific reasons against separation and a showing that the defendant was actually prejudiced by reason of the separation.). The trial court has the discretion to decide whether to allow the jury to separate. Harris, supra, 458 F.2d at 674-75. Whether the trial court admonished the jury to avoid outside influence is a significant factor in determining the likelihood of prejudice. 63 The trial court in this case instructed the jury throughout the trial to avoid exposure to media reports of the trial. The jurors collectively assured the court, both when they were released from sequestration and on subsequent trial days, that they had received no outside information about the case. The court's constant admonitions to the jury concerning media coverage and its collective questioning of the jury were adequate safeguards to ensure that appellants received a fair trial free from prejudice. United States v. Capo, 595 F.2d 1086, 1093 (5th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1012, 100 S.Ct. 660, 62 L.Ed.2d 641 (1980); United States v. Herring, 568 F.2d 1099 (5th Cir. 1978). 22 64 An individual, rather than a collective, voir dire concerning the jurors' exposure to publicity occurring during the trial is not required in all cases. United States v. Capo, supra, 595 F.2d at 1093. Whether individual examination of the jurors is warranted depends on a two-step threshold determination by the court: first, whether the material disseminated during the trial is beyond the record and is seriously prejudicial in content and, second, whether there is a likelihood that the material reached the jury. Id. The jurors' negative responses to the collective inquiry in this case adequately demonstrated that none of the jurors was exposed to extrinsic information. See id. 23 65 We do not commend the trial court's decision to end the sequestration, amidst considerable publicity, after only one week. Indeed, many of the problems at trial, not only the possibility that the extensive prejudicial publicity would come to the attention of the jurors but also the problem of the tampered-with juror, could have been eliminated had the court sequestered the jury from the beginning of the trial. 24 Nevertheless, we do not conclude that the trial court's actions constituted prejudicial, reversible error.