Opinion ID: 537763
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Extra judicial influence on the jury

Text: 18 Dawn and McCree argue that the incident involving juror Deggs prejudiced their right to a fair trial. As indicated, the district court discussed the incident with counsel and conducted a thorough investigation into its effect on the jury. Juror Deggs was dismissed from the jury, and the remaining jurors were admonished not to consider anything outside the courtroom in their deliberations. After the jury returned guilty verdicts, the court polled each juror to determine what effect, if any, the incident had on the deliberations. Also as indicated, each juror stated that the incident did not affect his or her decision. The foreperson stated that the incident was mentioned prior to beginning deliberations but was not discussed after deliberations began and that the jurors did not believe that the incident actually occurred. Trial Transcript at 944-46. Thus, the denial of the defendants' motions for new trial was not an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Sublet, 644 F.2d 737, 741 (8th Cir.1981).