Opinion ID: 1655626
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Posttrial Motions Concerning Discovery Regarding Jury Deliberations

Text: We next consider the plaintiffs' argument that the trial court erred in denying their posttrial motions seeking discovery regarding the jury's deliberations. These motions included a motion to subpoena jurors, a motion to vacate the order quashing the juror subpoenas, a motion to take juror depositions, a motion for enlargement of time to take juror depositions, and a motion renewing the plaintiffs' motion to take depositions, affidavits, and oral testimony of jurors. Matters concerning discovery pending appeal are within the trial court's discretion. Rule 27(b), Ala. R. Civ. P. [R]elief under Rule 27 is discretionary with the trial court, and a trial court's ruling on a Rule 27 petition will not be reversed in the absence of an abuse of discretion. Ex parte Anderson, 644 So.2d 961, 964 (Ala.1994). Even if this Court viewed these subpoena requests as coming within the ambit of Rule 30, Ala. R. Civ. P., the abuse-of-discretion standard would still apply. Home Ins. Co. v. Rice, 585 So.2d 859, 862 (Ala.1991). After the trial, the plaintiffs had the trial-court clerk issue subpoenas to the jurors, without having gotten the approval of the trial court. In pertinent part, the trial court's order quashing the subpoenas stated: The plaintiffs' attorney failed to comply with Rule 27 of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure for the taking of the depositions of witnesses pending appeal or before the taking of an appeal if the time therefor has not expired. The plaintiffs filed no motion with the court for authorization to take the depositions. Furthermore, the witnesses subpoenaed by the plaintiffs were jurors and the court is mindful of the special rules of law that apply to the testimony of jurors and policy considerations for these rules of law. All of the plaintiffs' arguments concerning posttrial discovery regarding the jury's deliberations are based on three affidavits that had been taken before the trial court quashed the subpoenas. The first was the affidavit of Charles Sharrief, Buchannon's father (who also is one of the plaintiffs). Sharrief's affidavit contains a list of statements made to him by some of the jurors after the trial. The trial court found that Mr. Sharrief's affidavit was comprised completely of hearsay, as that term is defined by Rule 802, Ala. R. Evid. The Court notes that the plaintiffs have not directly challenged, by citation to any authority, the propriety of the trial court's order striking the affidavit of Sharrief on the basis that it contained nothing but hearsay. See Rule 28(a)(5) Ala. R.App. P. Hearsay evidence is not admissible in support of a motion for a new trial, and a new trial will not be granted on the basis of such evidence. Jefferson County v. Kellum, 630 So.2d 426, 427 (Ala.1993). We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to allow Charles Sharrief's affidavit to support the issuance of subpoenas to individual jurors. Affidavits were also obtained from two of the jurors, S. and H. Their affidavits contain accounts of some jurors' discussions during deliberations. Rule 606(b), Ala. R. Evid., reads: (b) Inquiry Into Validity of Verdict or Indictment. Upon an inquiry into the validity of a verdict or indictment, a juror may not testify in impeachment of the verdict or indictment as to any matter or statement occurring during the course of the jury's deliberations or to the effect of anything upon that or any other juror's mind or emotions as influencing the juror to assent to or dissent from the verdict or indictment or concerning the juror's mental processes in connection therewith, except that a juror may 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. Nor may a juror's affidavit or evidence of any statement by the juror concerning a matter about which the juror would be precluded from testifying be received for these purposes. Nothing herein precludes a juror from testifying in support of a verdict or indictment. This Court has stated: Generally, affidavits are inadmissible to impeach a jury's verdict. An affidavit showing that extraneous facts influenced the jury's deliberations is admissible; however, affidavits concerning `the debates and discussions of the case by the jury while deliberating thereon' do not fall with this exception. HealthTrust, Inc. v. Cantrell, 689 So.2d 822, 828 (Ala.1997). See also Ala. R. Evid. 606(b); this rule is substantially similar to Rule 606(b), Fed.R.Evid. In Peveto v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 807 F.2d 486, 489 (5th Cir.1987), the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that by implementing Rule 606(b), Congress has made the policy decision that the social costs of such error are outweighed by the need for finality to litigation. The Seventh Circuit has held that Rule 606(b) is designed to protect the judicial process from efforts to undermine verdicts by scrutinizing the jurors' thoughts and deliberations. United States v. Ford, 840 F.2d 460, 465 (7th Cir.1988). Other courts of appeals for the federal circuits have stated that Rule 606(b) promotes free and uninhibited discourse during deliberations. Attridge v. Cencorp Div. of Dover Techs. Int'l, Inc., 836 F.2d 113, 116 (2d Cir.1987); Maldonado v. Missouri Pac. Ry., 798 F.2d 764 (5th Cir.1986). The plaintiffs misconceive the distinction, under Alabama law, between extraneous facts, the consideration of which by a jury or jurors may be sufficient to impeach a verdict, and the debates and discussions of the jury, which are protected from inquiry. This Court's cases provide examples of extraneous facts. This Court has determined that it is impermissible for jurors to define terms, particularly legal terms, by using a dictionary or encyclopedia. See Fulton v. Callahan, 621 So.2d 1235 (Ala.1993); Pearson v. Fomby, 688 So.2d 239 (Ala.1997). Another example of juror misconduct leading to the introduction of extraneous facts sufficient to impeach a jury verdict is an unauthorized visit by jurors to the scene of an automobile accident, Whitten v. Allstate Ins. Co., 447 So.2d 655 (Ala.1984), or to the scene of a crime, Dawson v. State, 710 So.2d 472 (Ala.1997). The problem characteristic in each of these cases is the extraneous nature of the fact introduced to or considered by the jury. The improper matter someone argues the jury considered must have been obtained by the jury or introduced to it by some process outside the scope of the trial. Otherwise, matters that the jurors bring up in their deliberations are simply not improper under Alabama law, because the law protects debates and discussions of jurors and statements they make while deliberating their decision. CSX Transp. v. Dansby, 659 So.2d 35 (Ala.1995). This Court has also noted that the debates and discussions of the jury, without regard to their propriety or lack thereof, are not extraneous facts that would provide an exception to the general rule of exclusion of juror affidavits to impeach the verdict. Weekley v. Horn, 263 Ala. 364, 82 So.2d 341 (1955). Nothing contained in the affidavits indicates the jury considered any extraneous facts. All the statements in the affidavits relate to evidence that was presented at trial or to information that was otherwise brought to the attention of the jury during the trial. The affidavits provide no evidence that the jury consulted any outside sources of information regarding the definition of standard of care, or regarding any other matter. Nothing in either of the affidavits indicates that the jury, or any particular juror, was influenced by any outside source. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the plaintiffs' posttrial motions seeking discovery regarding the jury's deliberations. HealthTrust, Inc. v. Cantrell, 689 So.2d 822 (Ala.1997).