Opinion ID: 1763180
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Propriety of Dual Jury Trial As Alternative to Severance

Text: The use of dual juries to avoid the confrontation problems present in Bruton was first considered in United States v. Sidman, supra . In that case, the court found that exclusion of the Sidman jury during the introduction of his codefendant's confession effectively allowed Sidman a joint trial with his codefendant on all of the evidence that was admissible against both, and a separate trial on the evidence admissible only against him pursuant to Bruton. The court further stated that use of this procedure in no way deprived the accused of any constitutional or statutory rights to which he was entitled. Despite this conclusion, however, the Ninth Circuit Court declined to endorse such a dual jury procedure, instead holding only that Sidman had not been prejudiced as a result. This court addressed a state request for the use of dual juries in the case of State v. Thomas, 319 So.2d 789 (La.1975). In Thomas, jointly indicted defendants were afforded an option to be tried under the jury provisions of the Constitution of 1921 (jury of five, all of whom must concur to render a verdict), or to elect trial under the jury provisions of the Constitution of 1974 (six-member jury, five of whom had to concur to render verdict). When each of these defendants elected a different mode of trial, the state proposed to preserve their joint trial by impaneling two separate juries. In considering this request, the Thomas court noted that Louisiana's statutory law made no provision for such a dual jury procedure. While conceding that such a procedure might be ordered under its supervisory jurisdiction, the court felt that numerous complications could result, and that for this reason, separate trials were necessary. Though not specifically mentioned by the Thomas court, it seems apparent that just the physical difficulties of seating and separating two juries in a single courtroom would require tremendous vigilance by the trial court. (In this case, the Sides jury was forced to occupy the front row of the courtroom.) The possibility of juror speculation as to the justification for such unique procedures could never be completely eliminated. In the case at bar, defendant Watson claims that the dual jury procedure prejudiced his case: (1) because his jury did in fact discover the substance of Sides' confession, and (2) because it forced speculation by his jury as to the verdict which would be returned by the Sides jury. (a) Alleged Bruton Violation The contention that Watson's jury actually discovered the existence of his codefendant's confession and its implication of defendant Watson formed the subject of defense motions for mistrial on at least two occasions during trial. See Assignments of Error Nos. 2 and 3. During its case-in-chief, the prosecution questioned Baton Rouge City Police Officer William Denicola as follows: Q Did you-uh-arrest either of the defendants? A Yes, sir. I did. Q You-uh-interrogated these defendants with reference to this incident? A Yes, I did. Q Both of `em? A Yes, I did. Following this line of questioning, both juries were excused and each defendant's counsel moved for a mistrial on grounds that this inquiry had undermined the very rationale for use of the dual jury procedure by informing each jury that both defendants had confessed their responsibility for the Burton robbery. The other motion for mistrial came when, on the morning of the second day of trial, an article appeared in the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate concerning the unique nature of defendants' dual jury trial and explaining the reason why such joint trials of confessing codefendants are normally prohibited. Paragraph two of this article noted that both Sides and Watson had given written statements to the police in which they admitted that Watson had used a BB pistol during the holdup of Linda Burton. [4] When polled at defense request, seven members of the Watson jury admitted seeing the article, though only two jurors had read much beyond the headline. However, when questioned further as to whether the article had supplied any information that was not already known, one of these jurors, a Mr. Jimmy R. Causey, specifically stated that he had not previously known that both defendants had signed confessions. Despite Causey's further disclaimer that this knowledge would not affect his verdict, it is clear that Causey's discovery had effectively undetermined the theory behind the dual jury trial. In fact, the very rationale behind the Bruton decision was that a trial court's instruction to disregard the inculpatory statement of a codefendant in determining the guilt or innocence of a jointly-tried defendant would be insufficient to cure the confrontation violation worked by such hearsay testimony. Nevertheless, in case at bar, the Watson jury's discovery of Sides' confession does not warrant reversal of defendant's conviction. Under the rule of State v. Hopper, 253 La. 439, 218 So.2d 551 (1969), joint trial is permissible where the confessions involved are so substantially identical or interlocking as to minimize the risk of prejudicial spillover incrimination that the lack of ability to cross-examine is reduced to an insignificant level. See also State v. McSpaddin, 341 So.2d 868 (La. 1977); United States ex rel. Ortiz v. Fritz, 476 F.2d 37 (3d Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1075, 94 S.Ct. 591, 38 L.Ed.2d 482 (1973); State v. Stubbs, 239 So.2d 241 (Fla. 1970). [5] In the instant case, the confessions of both Sides and Watson attributed the actual perpetration of the robbery to Watson while describing Sides as the driver of the getaway vehicle, while Watson's confession was more detailed as regards the details of the offense (Sides knew little of the actual robbery), there were no allegations contained in Sides' version of the robbery that were not admitted by Watson. [6] Thus, at least as to defendant Watson, the confessions at issue here are identical and could have been admitted even in a joint trial before a single jury without prejudice to the accused. For this reason, the mere fact that Watson's jury learned of Sides' confession during the course of their joint dual jury trial did not sufficiently prejudice Watson's defense as to merit reversal. [7] (b) Speculation As To Verdict Of Sides' Jury Conceding that the sole issue below was whether or not the unloaded BB pistol used in this offense constituted a dangerous weapon, appellant argues that his jury was coerced into returning a guilty of armed robbery verdict in order to ensure that Watson, whose actual involvement in the robbery was greater than that of Sides, would be convicted of at least as great a grade of the offense as would his codefendant. Thus, according to appellant, jury resolution of the dangerous weapon element in his favor would then trigger a secondary inquiry as to whether the Sides jury would reach a similar conclusion. This contention constitutes pure conjecture of the part of appellant, there being no evidence to support the theory that Watson's jury failed to follow the trial judge's instruction that their verdict be based solely upon evidence adduced at trial. Normally, jurors' reasoning processes may be assailed only on the ground that the evidence adduced at trial was legally insufficient to support their finding of guilt; other inquiries into the deliberations of a properly instructed jury are generally frowned upon (as, for example, where the jury returns a lesser verdict despite the apparent sufficiency of the evidence to support conviction of a greater offense). [8] In the present case, appellant makes no contention that the evidence was insufficient to support the conclusion that the BB pistol, as used in the Burton robbery, constituted a dangerous weapon. [9] Assuming this to be the case, the conclusions of the respective juries would appear readily supportable. Ms. Burton genuinely believed the weapon wielded by defendant Watson to be a .38 calibre revolver. The appellant's reckless behavior in pointing this replica of a .38 calibre revolver in Ms. Burton's face while demanding cash could easily be used to support the inference that defendant intended to create a charged atmosphere in which the possibility of death or great bodily harm existed. State v. Bonier, 367 So.2d 824 (La.1979); State v. Byrd, 385 So.2d 248 (La.1980). However, appellant's behavior did not support a similar inference of intent on the part of his codefendant Sides. [10] Sides played no role in procuring the weapon and his participation was limited to driving the vehicle used to aid appellant in his escape. Thus, in each instance, it cannot be forcefully argued that the jury verdicts were not motivated by a proper regard for evidence introduced at trial.