Opinion ID: 1501000
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jurors' Request

Text: After two and one-half hours of deliberation, the jurors requested a reading of the defendant's testimony on cross-examination [2] and reinstruction regarding the credibility of witnesses. In chambers, before responding to the jurors' request, the trial justice informed counsel that he would read back the portion of his charge concerning credibility but he would not comply with the request to hear the defendant's testimony. Defense counsel objected and moved for a mistrial on the basis that the jury has the right to hear the testimony reread. The justice noted that his decision not to read back the testimony was within his discretion and denied the motion. The justice called the jury in and reread his charge concerning credibility. With regard to the jurors' second request to rehear the defendant's testimony on cross-examination, the justice informed the jurors: It is not my practice to have the court reporter read back the testimony and portions of testimony. My reason for this is that there are twelve of you who have a collective memory as to what a witness testified to, and it is your collective memory as to what this particular piece of testimony was or was not. I want you to return to resume your deliberations with this additional point. If your collective memory fails entirely as to the testimony of Edmond Hebert from the prosecutor's questions, you may then renew your request and I will give it further consideration. I am not saying that I will have the testimony of Edmond Hebert read back in whole or in part, I am only saying that if your collective memory fails completely in this regard, you may renew your request at that time and I will give it further consideration. With that, Mr. Foreman and ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you may resume your deliberations. One-half hour later, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. We deal here with preserved error; the defendant made the court sufficiently aware of the essence of his objection. See State v. Lewisohn, 379 A.2d 1192, 1205 (Me. 1977). We are not required to determine only if the justice's practice deprived the defendant of a fair trial. M.R.Crim.P., Rule 52(b); State v. Gaudette, 431 A.2d 31, 33 (Me.1981); State v. Cugliata, 372 A.2d 1019, 1034 (Me.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 856, 98 S.Ct. 177, 54 L.Ed.2d 128 (1977). The justice was correct in ruling that the decision to read back testimony at the jurors' request is within the justice's discretion. Title 14 M.R.S.A. § 1106 (1980) provides: Disagreement in jury; instructions When a jury, not having agreed, returns into court stating the fact, the justice may, in his discretion, explain any questions of law if proposed to him or restate any particular testimony and send them out again for further consideration. They shall not be sent out a 3rd time in consequence of their disagreement unless on account of difficulties not stated when they first came into court. See also State v. Saucier, 385 A.2d 44, 48 (Me.1978) (trial justice may grant a request by the jury that portions of the record be read back to them); State v. MacDonald, 382 A.2d 553, 554 (Me.1978) (no abuse of discretion in rereading only direct examination testimony); State v. Vallee, 137 Me. 311, 315, 19 A.2d 429, 431 (1941) (rereading of testimony left to sound discretion of presiding justice). We are far from suggesting that mandatory compliance with every request for a rereading of testimony is required. The particular circumstances of a case govern such a decision and the matter lies within the sound discretion of the trial justice. But we think that the discretionary denial of a jury's request to rehear testimony should be strictly limited by a test of reasonableness. That discretion must be brought to bear on the facts of each case; a refusal as a matter of practice or routine to entertain a request to have testimony read back will almost always constitute an abuse of the required discretion. The American Bar Association Standards for Criminal Justice provide a practical and equitable approach to this issue: Standard 15-4.2. Jury request to review evidence (a) If the jury, after retiring for deliberation, requests a review of certain testimony or other evidence, they shall be conducted to the courtroom. Whenever the jury's request is reasonable, the court, after notice to the prosecutor and counsel for the defense, shall have the requested parts of the testimony read to the jury and shall permit the jury to reexamine the requested materials admitted into evidence. American Bar Association, Standards for Criminal Justice, § 15-4.2(a) (1980) and Commentary at 124 (emphasis added). In determining the reasonableness of the jury's request, the following factors, among others, may be significant: (1) the length of the trial; (2) the complexity of the issues; (3) the number of witnesses; (4) the amount of testimony requested to be reread; [3] (5) the amount of other testimony that, in fairness to all parties, should be reread with the requested read back; [4] (6) the importance of the requested testimony; [5] and (7) the inconvenience and loss of time to the court that may result. In balancing these factors, however, the trial justice should bear in mind that the preferable practice when the jury desires refreshment of memory is to grant the jury the right to have the testimony reread in open court. See State v. Sutkus, 134 Me. 100, 103, 182 A. 15, 16 (1935). Where a close judgment call is required, a justice should err on the side of responding favorably to a reasonable jury request. Evidence not requested should be reviewed, in order to comply with the actual request and in order not to give undue prominence to the requested evidence. The convenience of the court should not be pursued at the cost of keeping the jurors confused. Standards for Criminal Justice § 15-4.2, Commentary at 126. The present case involved a three-day trial. The several elements of the serious charge of gross sexual misconduct, the burden of proof issue in a criminal case, and a well-substantiated defense theory rendered this litigation fairly complex. Eleven witnesses testified. The cross-examination of the defendant, which the jurors requested to be read back, consisted of less than six transcript pages. [6] The testimony in those pages, if believed by the jury, focused on factual aspects of the case that were strongly exculpatory of the defendant. Hence, a failure to read back that testimony at the jury's request, resulting from an abuse of discretion, has a high potential for harm to the defendant at the deliberative stage of the case. It does not appear that the justice would have had to include, on the basis of fairness or relevance, other testimony as a consequence of reading back this testimony. We understand that the justice's practice of refusing to read back testimony results from a good faith reliance on, and emphasis of, the collective memory of the jurors. The trial justice's insistence that there be a complete failure of the jurors' collective memory imposed an improper standard, which peremptorily cut off the proper exercise of his discretion without any consideration of those factors we have enumerated as bearing on a proper rational process. The justice instructed the jurors that you are the judges of the facts, just as I am the judge of the law. Yet, by reinstructing them only concerning the law, the justice's practice mandates that the jurors guess at, rather than judge, the facts. The trial justice's practice of refusing to read back testimony seems, to us, only to augment the negative aspects of the jurors' already difficult task. Further, it implies a refusal by the court to exercise meaningfully the discretion entrusted to it. The parties' interests are too substantial, the jurors' task is too important, and the court's inconvenience is too slight in this case to justify a refusal of the reasonable request for rereading of a concise bit of testimony. In the absence of some weighty counterbalancing factor showing a clear danger of substantial and unjustifiable prolongation of the proceeding or of prejudice to a party, we can not approve of any practice that promotes the risk of a jury's finding facts without an adequate knowledge of the evidence. The entry is Appeal sustained. Judgment vacated. Remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. All concurring.