Opinion ID: 1841961
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Unauthorized View of Property

Text: For their fourth assignment of error, condemnees contend that during trial, and contrary to the trial court's admonitions, juror J.W. viewed the Dowd/Bemis property, by himself, without notice to any party, and without being accompanied by any court personnel. Juror J.W.'s affidavit states that [d]uring the trial of this case, I drove out to the property in question, owned by the Dowd and Bemis families, and looked at the same. I told the other jurors that I had done the same. As previously observed, in a motion for new trial, allegations of misconduct must relate to a disputed matter that is relevant to the issues in the case and must have influenced the jurors in arriving at the verdict. Smith v. Papio-Missouri River NRD, 254 Neb. 405, 576 N.W.2d 797 (1998). In order for a new trial to be ordered because of juror misconduct, the party claiming the misconduct has the burden to show by clear and convincing evidence that prejudice has occurred. Hunt v. Methodist Hosp., 240 Neb. 838, 485 N.W.2d 737 (1992). Juror J.W.'s affidavit constitutes the sole source of support for this claim of juror misconduct. Before we resolve the issue of juror misconduct, however, we must first determine whether juror J.W.'s affidavit is admissible evidence pursuant to rule 606(2). That is, we must determine whether juror J.W.'s affidavit contains information related to one of the two exceptions provided by rule 606(2), i.e., (1) extraneous prejudicial information improperly brought to the jury's attention or (2) outside influence improperly brought to bear on a juror. See Leavitt v. Magid, 257 Neb. 440, 598 N.W.2d 722 (1999). Condemnees do not contend that an outside influence was improperly brought to bear on a juror. Therefore, we must determine whether the allegations contained in juror J.W.'s affidavit constitute extraneous prejudicial information. For purposes of rule 606(2), while one may not inquire as to whether the presence of the evidence affected the juror's mind, it is proper and necessary that evidence be presented by the objecting party to show that extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jury's attention. State v. Woodward, 210 Neb. 740, 316 N.W.2d 759 (1982). In Woodward, we stated that where the record failed to establish that extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jury's attention, a juror's unauthorized viewing of the scene was not prejudicial. In Woodward, the defendant was tried for burglarizing a gas station. During deliberations, the jury traveled to dinner and passed through the intersection where the crime took place. One of the jurors testified that he could not recall any comment being made about the intersection, and another juror did recall that some comment was made about what could or could not be seen, but could not recall specifically what the comment was. We noted that without evidence establishing what was said by the jurors regarding what they saw, there was no way to determine if what they saw was prejudicial. Likewise, in the instant case, the record does not reveal anything regarding juror J.W.'s unauthorized view of the property. All the record shows is that juror J.W. drove out to the Dowd/Bemis property and looked at it. The record reveals nothing regarding what juror J.W. saw or the observations he may or may not have made. Moreover, to the extent juror J.W. made any observations, he did not communicate them to the other members of the jury. We also observe that the fact the Dowd/Bemis property appeared as it was described at trial minimizes any claim of prejudice. In Kohrt v. Hammond, 160 Neb. 347, 70 N.W.2d 102 (1955), we concluded that a juror's unauthorized view of the scene of an automobile accident was not prejudicial where there was no dispute in the evidence regarding the matters observed by the juror. By contrast, in Kremlacek v. Sedlacek, 190 Neb. 460, 209 N.W.2d 149 (1973), we held that an unauthorized view by a juror was prejudicial error warranting the granting of a new trial where the juror's view of the scene differed from testimony at trial. In Kremlacek, an action for damages sustained in an automobile accident, we noted that a crucial issue involved the location of a row of seven red cedar trees on the south side of the east-west road. On a motion for new trial, a juror's affidavit offered and received into evidence stated that he had driven out to the scene of the accident during the trial, had observed the scene of the accident, and that in his opinion, the trees located near the scene of the accident were farther back from the corner of the intersection than the testimony indicated. We concluded that the evidence was amply sufficient to sustain the trial court's finding that prejudicial error occurred. Unlike Kremlacek, juror J.W.'s view of the Dowd/Bemis property would have been entirely consonant with the evidence offered at trial describing the property. Juror J.W. made his unauthorized view of the subject property during the trial of this case. The construction of OPPD's powerlines on the Dowd/Bemis property was completed before this condemnation action was filed. Moreover, there was no dispute at trial regarding the description of the Dowd/Bemis property and its landscape. Accordingly, to the extent juror J.W. drove to and looked at some part of the Dowd/Bemis property, the land would have looked no different than how it was described at trial. As previously stated, rule 606(2) permits use of a juror's affidavit to establish that the jury considered prejudicial information emanating from a source other than evidence presented at trial. Rahmig v. Mosley Machinery Co., 226 Neb. 423, 412 N.W.2d 56 (1987). Rule 606(2) does not equate with, or govern, grounds for a new trial, but merely governs the competency of jurors to testify concerning the jury process. Rahmig v. Mosley Machinery Co., supra . Because condemnees failed to fulfill their burden of demonstrating prejudice, juror J.W.'s affidavit is not admissible to impeach the jury's verdict. As such, condemnees have no competent evidence with which to establish this claim of juror misconduct. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying condemnees' motion for new trial on this basis. We find this assignment of error to be equally without merit.