Opinion ID: 729726
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Prejudiced Juror

Text: 132 After the verdict in this trial, an allegation of juror misconduct was brought to the court's attention. Verna Severson contacted the clerk's office and said that she was surprised her co-worker (at a preschool) Pat Pickard was allowed to serve on the jury of a case involving Native Americans because she believed Pickard was prejudiced against them. The district court held a number of hearings and heard testimony from a number of witnesses. 133 Everyone who testified (mostly co-workers from the preschool) except Severson, unequivocally stated that Pickard is not racist and has not demonstrated a bias against Native Americans, although the school is now instituting workshops on racial sensitivity. Severson had a long-standing animosity toward Pickard and some of her testimony was contradicted by other witnesses. 134 On the other hand, Severson testified that she had listened to Pickard's racist statements for many years (including one to the effect that adult males often have sex with young girls as part of the Native American culture), and that she had engaged in arguments with Pickard over the years on the subject of Pickard's racism and bias against Native Americans. Severson testified Pickard told her that Pickard and two other jurors in this case enjoyed making racial jokes about Indians. The district court precluded Severson from telling what Pickard said went on while the jury was in the jury room pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 606(b). 135 The defendants assert Pickard's own testimony and efforts to avoid answering questions -- Not in my opinion, I don't know, I don't remember, I don't think so, and I may have -- were most revealing of her bias and her equivocal answers to most of the questions impeached her specific denial of bias. Pickard specifically testified she heard and laughed at a comment (rather than joke) in the jury room about an Indian (but she could not reveal more under Federal Rule of Evidence 606(b)), and she told a fellow juror after the trial that Well, you know what to say [regarding racial prejudice] if you want to be on or off the jury. 136 Pickard also acknowledged that her sister-in-law, a social worker who worked with abused children, told her that it is terrible to be born an Indian baby girl; that she had repeated this remark to Severson and other individuals; and that her intention was to repeat a statement of an experienced social worker. 137 Defendants argue the court's order denying the motions for a new trial incorrectly narrowed the focus of the juror misconduct inquiry to voir dire only and not into comments which took place in the jury room. United States v. Heller, 785 F.2d 1524 (11th Cir. 1986) (overturning conviction where jurors made anti-semitic jokes at trial and others reacted to them with gales of laughter). 138 We do not quarrel with the credibility determination of the district court rejecting serious charges against Pickard, but the evidence relating to this issue erodes confidence in the result. We cannot ignore the existence of racial prejudices in our society and as against Native Americans in areas near reservations. Pickard's statements relating to Native American racial jokes or comments raises a matter of grave concern. Racial prejudice in the jury room cannot and will not be tolerated or condoned. Here four Native Americans placed their liberties in the hands of all whites: prosecutors, defense counsel, judge and jury. The law requires that they receive a fair trial without the impact of racial bias.