Opinion ID: 369698
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: refusal to grant a mistrial or examine the jurors

Text: 45 We next consider the Appellant's argument that the trial court erred in refusing to grant a mistrial and examine the jurors to determine if any member of the jury had been exposed to news media coverage of Herbert Goodman's suicide. Herbert Goodman, who was a codefendant in the cause now before us, committed suicide on May 22, 1978, while the trial was in progress. His suicide was reported in the May 23, 1978, edition of the Dallas Morning News. It appeared in a news article entitled, Drug Defendant Commits Suicide, which appeared in Section B., page 11 of the newspaper. 13 46 On the day of the publication of the news article Appellants' defense counsel moved for a mistrial and requested the court to examine the jurors regarding their knowledge of the suicide. Both the motion and the request were denied. The records shows that the trial court instructed the jury no less than three times to consider only the evidence before them and not to consider any news media reports concerning the trial or any of the defendants. 14 47 The determination of whether publicity is so prejudicial as to require a mistrial or a jury poll is within the sound discretion of the trial court. United States v. Williams, 568 F.2d 464 (5 Cir. 1978); Gordon v. United States, supra. In Gordon, this court stated: 48 It is for the trial judge to decide at the threshold whether news accounts are actually prejudicial; whether the jurors were probably exposed to the publicity; and whether jurors would be sufficiently influenced by bench instructions alone to disregard the publicity. 438 F.2d at 873. 49 The appellants contend that the trial court abused its discretion because of the alleged jury prejudice caused by the newspaper article about Herbert Goodman's suicide. As a general rule, every claim of jury prejudice caused by a newspaper article appearing during a jury trial must turn on its (own) special facts. Marshall v. United States, 360 U.S. 310, 312, 79 S.Ct. 1171, 1173, 3 L.Ed.2d 1250 (1959); Williams v. United States, supra; Gordon v. United States, supra. In determining whether the jury was prejudiced by newspaper articles, the trial court must consider many things such as those discussed by this court in Gordon v. United States, supra : 50 In making his determination (of jury prejudice) the trial judge must consider such things as (1) the character or nature of the information published, some being more sensational or penetrating than others; (2) the time of the publication in relation to the trial; (3) the credibility of the source to which the information is attributable and (4) the pervasiveness of the publicity; that is, the extent of the audience reached by the media employed and the interest evoked. 438 F.2d at 873. 51 Applying these considerations to the instant case, we find that the news article of which Appellants complain was not inflammatory and did not refer to any former criminal record of the Appellants, as was the case in Marshall v. United States, supra, and Williams v. United States, supra. It was not published at a critical time during the trial (i. e., it was published at a time when the government was still presenting its case). The article was factual in nature and seemingly credible. The article was not probative of guilt as in Williams v. United States, supra. 15 The trial court repeatedly instructed the jury in the instant case not to read or listen to news media accounts of the trial. There was no showing that any juror read or even saw the article. This court relied heavily on this circumstance in Gordon v. United States, supra, stating:And finally, there was no showing that a juror read or even saw any of the alleged offending articles; it is merely urged that they must have seen them. To conclude on this basis that appellants were denied a fair trial would require the application of a dual presumption: that the jurors ignored the repeated instructions of the court and that they were prejudicially influenced by the news stories involved. Yet the law will presume neither. 438 F.2d at 873. 52 The newspaper article in this case was not printed in a place where it was readily accessible to one reading the paper. It appeared as a small 3 x 51/2 article printed at the bottom of an inside page of the business and sports section under the over-the-counter stock market quotations. In any event, this court stated in Gordon that the accused has the burden of showing jury prejudice. The court said: 53 . . . we are in accord with the view that where publicity prior to and during a trial is neither inherently prejudicial nor unusually extensive, the accused must assume the traditional burden and show actual jury prejudice. 438 F.2d at 874. 54 The newspaper article in our case was neither inherently prejudicial nor the publicity unusually extensive. The Appellants simply failed to sustain their burden of showing actual jury prejudice because of the article. 55 The facts in Gordon v. United States, supra, were very similar to those in the instant case. In Gordon, there were two newspaper articles, one of which named the defendants. Both articles gave factual reports of the proceeding and were barren of inflammatory matter. The trial court instructed the jury several times not to read or listen to the news media during the trial, and there was no showing that a juror read or saw any of the articles. Based on those facts, the court concluded that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to poll the jury. 56 Accordingly, we hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to grant a mistrial or poll the jury, and such refusal was not error. The Appellants' claim that Herbert Goodman's suicide is tantamount to a confession is unfounded in the absence of any evidence of why he committed such an act. Furthermore, we find the Appellants' argument that Herbert Goodman's suicide deprived the Appellants of their right to confront witnesses equally unfounded, because there was no showing that Herbert Goodman would have taken the stand to testify.