Opinion ID: 673144
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Witness Testimony Read to the Jury

Text: 34 During deliberations, the jury sent the court a note asking whether the Thunderbird automobile was in the garage at the Chappel Road residence on November 4. Detective Kouba had testified the Thunderbird was in the garage on November 5. 35 The court conferred with both defense and prosecution counsel, solicited their advice as to how to respond to the jury's inquiry, and then had extensive portions of Kouba's testimony read to the jury. 36 Banda argues the court abused its discretion by having this testimony read, because it emphasized Kouba's testimony instead of simply responding to the jury's specific question. Banda contends the seriousness of this error is reflected by the fact that the jury returned its verdict 25 minutes after Kouba's testimony was read to them. 37 The district court did not abuse its discretion by having Kouba's testimony read. The court sought to avoid undue emphasis on any single portion of the testimony by having extensive portions of it read, both on direct and cross-examination. See United States v. Nickell, 883 F.2d 824, 829 (9th Cir.1989). Moreover, the court instructed the jury, both before and after the testimony was read, not to place undue emphasis on it, and to consider Kouba's testimony only in combination with all other evidence presented during the trial. See United States v. Sandoval, 990 F.2d 481, 487 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 114 S.Ct. 218 (1993). 38 The circumstance that the jury returned its verdict 25 minutes after Kouba's testimony was read does not suggest, as Banda argues, that the jury placed undue emphasis on it. In United States v. King, 552 F.2d 833 (9th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 966 (1977), the defendant also argued the speed with which the jury reached its verdict after having testimony read during deliberations attested to placing undue emphasis on the testimony. We rejected that argument in King, stating, 39 We think that other conclusions not inconsistent with careful consideration of the evidence as a whole are possible. The jury may have already reached a verdict and merely desired a confirming clarification on one point; the clarification on a point may have been the straw that broke the camel's back in swaying a verdict properly based on the totality of the evidence. 40 Id. at 850. 41 A court's decision to read portions of testimony to the jury lies within its sound discretion. Nickell, 883 F.2d at 829. The district court did not abuse that discretion.