Opinion ID: 1195356
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Claim of juror contamination

Text: Defendant contends that he was deprived of his constitutional right to a fair trial by an impartial jury because during jury selection, when evidence came to light suggesting that jurors were in fear of him, the trial court failed to question the jurors adequately regarding their fears and erroneously denied his motion for mistrial. The record reflects that Prospective Juror Hw., who ultimately was excused for cause, stated to the court outside the presence of other prospective jurors that on the preceding night she had received a telephone call from Ms. Hv., a prospective juror on the panel who was not selected to serve on defendant's jury, in which Hv. informed her that the judge presiding in defendant's case had received death threats and was being protected by a bodyguard at all times. After Prospective Juror Hw. had left the courtroom, the prosecutor informed the court that there had been threats against him and another deputy district attorney in this case, though none were traced to defendant, but that with defendant's history of attacking witnesses and shooting people who tell against him, it was inevitable that jurors would be fearful. The prosecutor warned: [I]f we are going to be excusing jurors because they are frightened, we are not going to have a jury because they are going to be frightened. The trial court then informed Hw. that it had not received any threats and did not have a bodyguard. Hw. then volunteered that Hv. also had informed her that an acquaintance had taken the trial judge to the crime scene, that the judge did not want to be involved with this case because it involved gangs and cocaine, and that Hv. noted that some witnesses were in the witness protection program. Hw. said she did not recall Hv. saying anything in the presence of other prospective jurors about the case, but noted Hv. did have some contact with another prospective juror, Ms. Mh. Hw. stated she had been very frightened after the conversation with Hv. The trial court assured her the rumors she had heard were false. The trial court, outside the presence of the jury, stated it would be necessary to question Hv., to warn her not to contact anyone else, and to question the remainder of the jurors to be certain they had not had any contact with Hv. Upon questioning, Hv. admitted telephoning Hw. and telling her the judge was under 24-hour protection due to threats. Hv. stated she had heard this information from her employer, and also from another prospective juror who made the assertion in her presence and that of other prospective jurors. On one or two occasions she heard prospective jurors state they were afraid to serve in this case. She also recalled other jurors stating that defendant was paying for his own attorney and that defense counsel was driving a new Jaguar. She asserted she had not telephoned any prospective juror other than Hw. The court ordered her not to contact anyone involved in the case. The trial court initially denied defendant's motion to excuse for cause, but the following day determined that Juror Hw. would be excused. The trial court also examined Prospective Juror Mh., who also had been excused. She stated that Hv. had told her that the court had been threatened and had 24hour security. She recounted hearing Hv. make this statement in a hallway where a group of 10 to 12 prospective jurors could have heard it. She heard this rumor from no other source, and heard no discussion about the case among other prospective jurors. Some prospective jurors did seem uneasy, simply because of the nature of the case. The suggestion that the trial court was in need of additional security made Mh. uneasy. The trial court concluded that Hv. was not worthy of belief and suggested that she had been disingenuous in attempting to exonerate herself for her misconduct in telephoning Hw. to discuss the case. The court stated that in an abundance of caution it would ask each juror if he or she had heard the statement Mh. alleged Hv. had made in the hallway in the hearing of other prospective jurors. The trial court stated it would inquire of the remaining jurors whether they had heard Hv. say anything about the case or had heard other prospective jurors talk about the case other than in the most general terms. Eleven of the jurors who served on the case indicated they had not heard other prospective jurors discuss the case and were not present when a prospective juror who was excused mentioned something related to the case in the hearing of other prospective jurors. (The remaining jurors and alternates had been selected after Ms. Hv. had been excused.) The trial court rejected defense counsel's request that the jurors be questioned regarding rumors of threats against the court and other grounds for fearing defendant. The trial court explained that in its view, such questions would prejudice otherwise untainted jurors by giving rise to fears and speculation that otherwise would not exist. Defendant made a motion for mistrial on the grounds that the prospective jurors may have been contaminated by rumors about threats against the court, and that the court's questioning of the jurors had not been sufficiently detailed to expose or counteract such contamination. Defendant's motion for mistrial was denied. Defendant renewed the motion for further questioning of the jury, again maintaining that the jurors should have been asked specifically whether they had heard of threats to the trial judge. The court denied the renewed motion, observing that it thought Hv. was lying about having heard about threats against the court from other persons, and that she was lying to cover herself for having opened her mouth. We have explained that [a] trial court must conduct a sufficient inquiry to determine facts alleged as juror misconduct `whenever the court is put on notice that good cause to discharge a juror may exist.' ( People v. Davis (1995) 10 Cal.4th 463, 547, 41 Cal.Rptr.2d 826, 896 P.2d 119.) The trial court in the present case conducted an inquiry sufficient to determine that excused Prospective Juror Hv.'s communications to Prospective Juror Hw. required that the latter be excused for cause and to satisfy itself that the remainder of the prospective jurors had not been exposed to prejudicial rumors or heard Hv.'s comments about threats against the trial court. Contrary to defendant's assertion, the court did not confine itself to asking prospective jurors whether they had heard any discussion of the facts of the question defendant claims might have been interpreted as referring only to the circumstances of the crime. The court repeatedly asked whether jurors had heard discussion of the facts of the case or anything else relating to the case. In addition, the court asked the prospective jurors whether they had heard a prospective juror who was subsequently excused make comments in front of a group of 10 to 12 jurors, and also asked the prospective jurors whether they had heard others make any personal remarks about the attorneys. The court, in asking whether jurors had heard discussion of anything relating to the case, noted that it was not referring to matters such as scheduling or delays in the trial. Under the circumstances, no juror would have understood that the court's questions were restricted to discussion of the crime itself. In addition, the court acted within its discretion in determining that more pointed questions regarding alleged threats against the court would serve to alarm the prospective jurors rather than to uncover prejudice or allay fears. (See, e.g., People v. Pinholster, supra, 1 Cal.4th at p. 928, 4 Cal. Rptr.2d 765, 824 P.2d 571 [applying abuse of discretion standard to claimed failure to conduct hearing adequate to determine whether juror should be discharged for misconduct]; see also People v. Ray (1996) 13 Cal.4th 313, 343, 52 Cal.Rptr.2d 296, 914 P.2d 846 [decision whether to investigate juror bias is within sound discretion of trial court]; People v. Beeler (1995) 9 Cal.4th 953, 989, 39 Cal.Rptr.2d 607, 891 P.2d 153 [it is within court's discretion to determine what procedure to employ or inquiry to conduct to determine whether juror should be discharged].) A motion for mistrial is directed to the sound discretion of the trial court. We have explained that [a] mistrial should be granted if the court is apprised of prejudice that it judges incurable by admonition or instruction. [Citation.] Whether a particular incident is incurably prejudicial is by its nature a speculative matter, and the trial court is vested with considerable discretion in ruling on mistrial motions. ( People v. Haskett (1982) 30 Cal.3d 841, 854, 180 Cal.Rptr. 640, 640 P.2d 776.) The court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion in the present case. The prospective jurors directly implicated in the rumors regarding threats against the court did not serve on defendant's jury, and the remaining jurors, when questioned, gave no indication that they had heard the rumors or that their impartiality was impaired. The court admonished each juror not to discuss the case with the others and instructed the jury to decide the case upon the facts presented at trial and not based upon any other source. The record demonstrates the absence of any incurable prejudice of the sort that would require the granting of a motion for mistrial. (See Illinois v. Somerville (1973) 410 U.S. 458, 461-462, 93 S.Ct. 1066, 35 L.Ed.2d 425 [noting trial court's broad discretion in ruling on mistrial motions].) For the same reasons, we reject defendant's contentions that the trial court erred in denying his motion for mistrial and thereby impaired his right to due process of law or to an impartial jury.