Opinion ID: 6498085
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Judge's Meeting with Juror 2

Text: ¶14 On the fifth and last day of trial, which began at 8:59 a.m., a discussion about jury instructions was interrupted by a bailiff informing the judge that Juror 2 was ill. The record reflects the court took a 45-minute recess, during which 10 No. 2018AP942-CR the judge sent Juror 2 to the judge's chambers to rest. The judge met with Juror 2 in her chambers, without counsel or the defendant, but conferred with the attorneys outside of the courtroom. Following the meeting, at 10:05 a.m., the judge went back on the record to explain what had transpired: It's been over a half an hour at least, maybe 45 minutes, since we went off the record earlier. The Court went off the record because I was advised that we had a juror who was not feeling well. And when I inquired and with the assistance of one of the bailiffs, we had the juror come out of the jury room, go into my chambers where there's a quiet place for her to rest to see whether she would be feeling better. She is not feeling well enough to proceed. And when I asked her about 15, 20 minutes ago if she thought she would feel well enough to proceed in any particular length of time, her answer was very tentative and she said unlikely basically and she didn't know how long she would need before she could participate. She is, if you want to know the details, queasy, light headed, just unwell generally. I did inquire. She said she's been having some health issues as of late and believes that these are——her words——the reminisce of some health issues that have been going on I think last week. ¶15 Although counsel was not in the room for the judge's interactions with Juror 2, the judge relayed at least one question from counsel. The judge described the juror's response while documenting her handling of the situation: I conferred with the attorneys. We met in the back. I advised the attorneys going along what was the cause for the delay and what was being done to assist the juror and we agreed to wait and we've now waited a significant period of time. And I have to be mindful that we have the remaining 12 sitting back in the jury room waiting to move forward. 11 No. 2018AP942-CR I understand the significance of this for both sides, frankly. This is the only African-American juror on the panel. But I am not prepared to put her health at risk by having her continue and go to deliberations when she is so unwell. After we met, the defense asked a question for purposes of the record which I do not find inappropriate. I did ask——I inquired along the lines of the concern that the defense had. I asked the juror if her stress or her not being well enough to proceed had anything to do with her service as a juror or with the behavior of any of the other jurors. Her response to me was Oh, no. This has nothing to do with the trial. So I'm satisfied with that response. I've made my record. Additionally, the judge noted, the remainder of the jurors already were aware [the] juror was not feeling well, that she had been laying down . . . in the jury room. She had been resting in there before she was excused to chambers. So they're aware of the situation. They're aware that it's regarding her health.