Opinion ID: 513267
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Juror's Introduction of Extrinsic Evidence

Text: 87 During an overnight recess in the jury's deliberations, one of the jurors reviewed notes she had taken during a health law class, jotted down three phrases from these notes on a bookmark, and took the bookmark and read these phrases to her fellow jurors the following morning. The phrases, which the juror informed her fellow jurors were principles of the jury process, were: 88 (1) Innocent until proven guilty; (2) All evidence and testimony is presumed truthful until proven otherwise; and (3) In dealing with conflicting evidence merely decide which has the greatest probability of being true or simply, what is the most reasonable and sensible. 89 Shortly thereafter, pursuant to a request made just before court had recessed the preceding day, the jury was reinstructed on the proper consideration of circumstantial evidence. Later that day the jury returned its verdicts. 90 Upon learning that the juror had brought her notes into the jury room, the district judge held an evidentiary hearing during which she questioned each juror about the incident. Based on the jurors' responses and the substance of the alleged extrinsic evidence, Judge Evans concluded that the juror's conduct had not created a reasonable possibility of prejudice. 91 Although defendants correctly state that a jury's verdict cannot stand if there is a reasonable possibility that the verdict was prejudiced by the introduction of improper extrinsic evidence, see United States v. Perkins, 748 F.2d 1519, 1533 (11th Cir.1984), we agree with the district court that the juror's notes on her bookmark did not create a reasonable probability of prejudice. We assume, arguendo, that the notes the juror brought into the jury room during deliberations constituted improper extrinsic evidence and that all members of the jury heard and remembered her comments. We conclude, however, that the substance of the notes was not dramatically different from what the judge actually charged the jury. Thus, we conclude that the district court correctly held that the jury's decision was not tainted by improper extrinsic evidence.