Opinion ID: 2401870
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Toy Cars

Text: According to the hearing transcript, the foreperson described Mitch's use of the toy cars as follows: He got them out on the table and he began to do something maybe for twenty or thirty seconds   . He was just, you know, `I brought these cars in and I brought them from home,' and half the group was like on this side, and I was, you know, I was over to the white board or the flip chart. Those cars never came out again after that. These cars were brought to the jury's attention while they waited for the evidence to come up from the sheriff. On the threshold question, we agree with the finding of the trial justice that the toy cars, brought from home by one of the jurors, constituted extraneous information. On the second question, however, we hold there is evidence to support a conclusion that the presence of the toy cars probably would not affect the minds of a reasonable juror. A thirty-second display of toy cars at the outset of deliberations before the evidence and exhibits had been brought into the jury room is far from overwhelming. The defendant also argues persuasively that the use of toy cars for demonstrative purposes was akin to the jurors drawing a diagram of the accident to aid deliberations. The use of the toy cars, however improper, was relatively innocuous extraneous information that would probably not affect a reasonable juror. Therefore, we agree with the trial justice's denial of the plaintiff's motion for a new trial with respect to the toy cars.