Opinion ID: 1199597
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Ronald Clevenger

Text: Clevenger served on petitioner's jury. Nerad and Bryer came to his home unannounced in the summer of 1994 to ask questions about his jury service. He spoke to them on his front porch for 20 to 30 minutes. They did not identify themselves clearly and gave the impression they represented the government, specifically the court. They said the case was in its final stages and their purpose was to make sure there had been a fair trial. Clevenger began asking questions to determine who they were, and he requested a business card. One of the two handed him a card bearing CAP's name. They volunteered no information about CAP. In response to Clevenger's persistent inquiries, they said it was an agency authorized and funded by the courts to investigate death penalty cases. During the interview, Nerad and Bryer asked leading questions ... that took a lot of thought to answer so that they would not be misinterpreted. These concerned whether Clevenger had been influenced during the trial by publicity about the case. The questions seemed to have no right answer, since a yes would indicate bias, while even a no would imply that Clevenger had violated the court's admonition to avoid media reports about the trial. Clevenger felt that the interview was not being conducted fairly and that Nerad and Bryer were trying to trick him. He began to realize they represented petitioner and were seeking possible grounds for overturning the jury verdict. He was offended by their unannounced appearance, by their failure to identify themselves clearly at the outset, and by the tenor of their questions. He told them they should be ashamed of themselves and asked them to leave. They did so.