Opinion ID: 1697230
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The jury considered matters outside the record.

Text: ¶ 20. Smith claims that the jury may have been influenced by evidence of another crime which was not properly before the jury. Carolyn Pearce testified at the trial that Jerome and Smith were in a red and white car shortly after the robbery, that they assaulted her with a pistol and a knife, and that they had a large amount of loose cash with them, and talked about buying more cocaine. She had also claimed that Jerome and Smith had raped her in the assault, but the rape testimony was not presented to the jury. Smith claims that the jury inappropriately considered the rape claim, but he cites no authority to support this claim. He has submitted an affidavit from juror Carolyn Mack, in which she mentions that during deliberations, [i]t was stated by other jurors that Jerome Pete Smith had also committed rape in the past. The juror does not claim that the rape allegation influenced the jury's decision in any way. And, more specifically, she does not claim that the jury was prejudiced against Smith by the allegation that his brother, Jerome, had possibly committed a rape. ¶ 21. Smith also presents an affidavit from a social work intern who claims that another juror, Mary Ann Stanton, had stated during an interview that at the time of her [Stanton's] deliberations as a juror in the trial and sentencing of Clyde Wendell Smith and his brother and co-defendant, Jerome Pete Smith, that they had raped a woman, and she considered this fact in her decision. As discussed previously, this is not a juror's affidavit. It is a social work intern's account of statements supposedly made by the juror. This is not a proper affidavit, and the Court will not consider it in the post-conviction proceedings. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-9(1)(e) allows the petitioner to present affidavits from witnesses who would testify at trial, not hearsay statements allegedly made by a juror to a third party. ¶ 22. Generally, a juror is not allowed to impeach his own verdict by testifying about motives or influences that affected the deliberations, although jurors may testify about misconduct in their presence or about outside influences on the jury panel. Lewis v. State, 725 So.2d 183, 190 (Miss.1998), citing Fairman v. State, 513 So.2d 910, 915-16 (Miss.1987). See also M.R.E. 606(b) (juror can only testify on the question whether extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jury's attention or whether any outside influence was improperly brought to bear upon any juror). ¶ 23. In Lewis, this Court held that there must be more than the mere allegation of improper out of court evidence, stating that there must be sufficient proof of an alleged outside influence. Lewis, 725 So.2d at 190 (citing King v. State, 580 So.2d 1182, 1187 (Miss.1991); Williamson v. State, 512 So.2d 868, 882 (Miss.1987); Carter v. State, 493 So.2d 327, 329 (Miss.1986)). Further, the Court in Lewis held that the mere possibility that [an improper] influence might have been used ... is not sufficient to justify setting aside this conviction. Id. ¶ 24. Smith has failed to show any prejudicial jury misconduct here. The only valid affidavit states merely that some jurors had heard that Jerome Pete Smith, not Clyde Wendell Smith, had committed a rape in the past. There is no allegation that the jurors came to their decision based on a rape allegation against Jerome Smith.