Opinion ID: 1495775
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Witness/Juror Interaction

Text: The Petition to this Court stems from an extensive non-incidental, improper contact between a juror and Detective Pikulski [7] during the weekend of March 23rd and 24th, 2001. Detective Pikulski was called as a State witness and testified in petitioner's trial on Wednesday, March 21, 2001. In addition to her testimony, the defense marked her notes, taken during her interview with Mr. Clark immediately after the shooting, as an exhibit and questioned her about them. On re-direct examination, those notes were read into the record as evidence. After she concluded her testimony, the trial court stated the following: You may step down and ... you are subject to the subpoena but you may leave. There is a rule on witnesses so don't discuss your testimony with any other witness or permit any other witness to discuss their testimony with you. We will notify you if we need you at a future time. On April 4, 2001, after the jury had issued their verdict in petitioner's case and after the trial court had accepted its verdict, Detective Pikulski had reason to be present in the State's Attorney's Office for a matter unrelated to petitioner. While there, Detective Pikulski saw the prosecutor in petitioner's case and told her, during a casual conversation, that she had contact with Mr. McDonald, [8] a juror, at a religious retreat during the course of the trial. The State's attorney immediately contacted the court and defense counsel. The next day, six days after the jury convicting petitioner rendered its verdict and that verdict was accepted and the jury discharged, an emergency hearing took place. On April 19, 2001, the trial court heard testimony from Detective Pikulski and Juror McDonald. [9] They testified regarding the extensive contact they had during and immediately following a weekend religious retreat in Virginia that the two had attended while the proceedings against petitioner were in mid-trial. Juror McDonald testified that he attended a small religious retreat, i.e., 25-30 people were in attendance, from Friday evening, March 23, 2001, until Saturday afternoon, March 24, 2001. Juror McDonald said that on Friday evening he recognized Detective Pikulski from the trial and first attempted to avoid contact with her. Later, in violation of the court's order, he approached the Detective and said, Look, you don't know who I am, but I'm a juror in a case that you testified in, and I can't have any dealings with you, [10] to which Pikulski later replied, Oh, did you, you know, did you find him guilty? Mr. McDonald testified that he thought this comment to mean that Detective Pikulski thought that he was a juror from a different, completed trial and that he then told her that the trial remained in progress. Mr. McDonald said that the two did not discuss the matter further, although in further violation of the court's order they continued the contact, discussing only general, non-trial, topics. The following day, he stated that the two, unintentionally, [11] sat next to each other during the seminar. After the early completion of the seminar, the two, at McDonald's invitation, went to lunch together where they were alone for most of the meal. [12] According to them, their conversation over lunch focused on Mr. McDonald's employment in environmental matters and Pikulski's son's schooling in chemistry and interest in the environment. Following their lunch, Mr. McDonald testified that Detective Pikulski offered to give him a ride to his car, which was being repaired at a dealership approximately one-half of a mile away. He stated that after the Detective took him to his car, the two had no more contact. Detective Pikulski's account of her interaction with Mr. McDonald was similar. She testified that she arrived at the religious retreat in Virginia at approximately 6:50 p.m. on Friday evening, March 23, 2001. She stated that within a short period of time after her arrival she engaged in a conversation with Mr. McDonald. After several minutes, Mr. McDonald walked away only to return to state that he was on the jury. Detective Pikulski stated that she replied with something similar to Oh, you're one of the ones that convicted him? She said that McDonald replied by saying, I can't talk about it. Detective Pikulski then inquired whether Mr. McDonald was on a current active jury, to which he replied in the affirmative. She then stated, You're right. We can't talk about this. She stated that the seminar ended around 9:30 that evening. At 9:00 a.m. the following morning, the seminar resumed and concluded at approximately 1:30 p.m., earlier than expected. According to Detective Pikulski, she briefly talked to Mr. McDonald, who invited her to eat lunch with him. She agreed and the two ate lunch at a nearby restaurant for approximately an hour and a half, where each paid for their own meals. Detective Pikulski testified that the topic of conversation included the sharing of personal information about each other and their families. She also learned that Mr. McDonald volunteered at a soup kitchen where she attends Sunday school. After lunch, Detective Pikulski said that she gave Mr. McDonald a ride to his car, which she said was about two miles away. On Monday, March 26, 2001, while the trial was ongoing, Detective Pikulski informed another detective, Detective Penrod, about her contact with Mr. McDonald, yet neither Juror McDonald, Detective Penrod or Detective Pikulski brought the matter to the attention of the court at that time.