Opinion ID: 867281
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mistrial after Juror Misconduct

Text: ¶ 28 The trial court ordered a mistrial of the aggravation phase after a juror disclosed a potential incident of juror misconduct on the first day of that phase of the trial. Garcia now argues that the trial court erred by failing to sua sponte declare a mistrial of the guilt phase. We review a trial court's ruling on alleged juror misconduct for abuse of discretion. State v. Dann, 220 Ariz. 351, 370 ¶ 106, 207 P.3d 604, 623 (2009). Moreover, because Garcia failed to object below, he must establish that any error was fundamental in nature and resulted in prejudice. State v. Henderson, 210 Ariz. 561, 567 ¶¶ 19-20, 115 P.3d 601, 607 (2005). ¶ 29 On the first day of the aggravation phase, Juror P. told the bailiff that she thought members of Garcia's family had improperly contacted her. She later testified that a Hispanic male had come to her house two or three weeks earlier and asked if she wanted to have weeds pulled from her yard; she said no and he left. Juror P. said that a very similar-looking Hispanic male appeared at her house the day before the aggravation phase began and asked if she wanted to sell her SUV. During this conversation, another SUV with a woman and young child inside was parked in front of Juror P.'s house. Juror P. told the man that she would not sell her SUV and asked him to leave. As he walked away, Juror P. heard the woman in the SUV say something about Jeffrey Dalmer [sic] and eating people or something. On the first day of the aggravation phase, Juror P. noticed a woman sitting on Garcia's side of the audience who looked very similar to the woman she had seen in the SUV. At lunch, Juror P. told other jurors about both incidents. ¶ 30 The trial court interviewed Juror P. and the jurors with whom she spoke. Juror P. said that the first incident did not affect her deliberations in the guilt phase of the trial and that she made a connection to Garcia only when she saw the woman in court. She confirmed that she had not mentioned either incident to the other jurors until that day. After the interviews concluded, defense counsel moved for a mistrial of the aggravation phase, which the trial court granted. ¶ 31 The trial court did not err in failing to sua sponte also grant a mistrial for the already completed guilt phase. When an issue of potential juror misconduct arises, the court's response should be `commensurate with the severity of the threat posed.' State v. Miller, 178 Ariz. 555, 557, 875 P.2d 788, 790 (1994) (quoting United States v. Thomas, 463 F.2d 1061, 1063 (7th Cir.1972)). Defense counsel specifically stated that he was seeking only a mistrial of the aggravation phase and not the guilt phase. Moreover, the trial court's decision to grant a mistrial as to the aggravation phase alone was sufficient in light of the limited nature of the potential prejudice. The risk of prejudice arose only after Juror P. connected the incidents to Garcia and told other jurors about them, possibly tainting their perceptions, all of which occurred after the guilt phase.