Opinion ID: 2594892
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sealing the First Penalty Verdict

Text: At the district attorney's request, and over Veasley's objection, the trial court ordered the jury's verdict as to Veasley sealed until after the jury had also rendered its verdict as to Cleveland and Charan. It believed that sealing the first verdict so that both verdicts could be announced simultaneously at the end of the trial would best ensure that the jury would hear the evidence and deliberate at the second penalty trial as comfortably as possible, as openly as possible. It was also concerned to protect defendants' rights while sealing the verdict. Accordingly, and following the procedure the court established, when the jury announced that it had reached a verdict as to Veasley, the court examined the verdict to make sure it had been properly signed and dated. It then explained to the jury that the verdict would be sealed and not disclosed to anybody else until the jury had reached its verdicts as to Cleveland and Charan. The court also had each juror individually examine the verdict to make sure each agreed with it. It then polled the jurors as to whether the verdicts that you've examined are your true and correct verdicts. Each juror individually affirmed that the verdict was his or her true and correct verdict. The court then sealed the verdict until after the second penalty trial. After the jury reached its verdict as to Cleveland and Charan, and in the presence of all defendants and the jury, the court announced each of the verdicts, including the death verdict as to Veasley. The court again polled the jury, and each juror individually affirmed that the verdicts, including the death verdict as to Veasley, were his or her own. Veasley argues this procedure violated his rights to a unanimous verdict, jury polling, due process, and a reliable penalty determination. Specifically, he argues this procedure violated the jurors' rights to reconsider their verdict until the decision was complete and resulted in no true polling of the individual jurors. (See §§ 1163, 1164.) We disagree. Regarding the verdict as to Veasley, the jury was polled twice in open court in Veasley's presence: first when it reached its verdict, and again when the verdict was unsealed and announced. Both times any juror could have expressed any disagreement or other dissatisfaction with the verdict. Both times each juror assented that the verdict was, in fact, that juror's true verdict. For this reason, we need not decide whether the jury had the right to reconsider its verdict at the time it was unsealed. Sealing the first verdict to announce all verdicts at the same time did not violate any of Veasley's rights. [10]