Opinion ID: 1353139
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Refusal to Allow Jury to Rehear Testimony

Text: About three hours into deliberations, the jury foreman requested that the jury be permitted to rehear Appellant's testimony. The trial court responded that the transcript had not yet been prepared by the court reporter, and that the jury would have to rely on its own recollections in deliberations. No objections were entered to the trial court's decision. Appellant now argues that the trial court's denial of the jury's request constitutes reversible error. According to Appellant, the jury's request indicated possible confusion or misunderstanding, and that he was prejudiced when the jury eventually rendered its decision without the benefit of rehearing his testimony. Any decision to allow the jury to have testimony replayed during its deliberations is within the sound discretion of the trial judge. [23] We find no abuse of discretion in this case. The jury foreman made a plain request to the trial judge to rehear Appellant's testimony, and did not elaborate as to the reason for the request. The trial court was not presented with any indication that the jury was confused about Appellant's testimony, nor did the jury state or imply that a verdict could not be reached without a transcript or recording of the testimony. Moreover, the request was never reiterated. Having no reason to suspect that the jury was confused or unable to continue deliberations, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the jury's request to rehear Appellant's testimony.