Opinion ID: 535710
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: verdict by eleven person jury

Text: 11 On the sixth day of the jury's deliberations, a Friday, a member of the jury became ill, causing the district court to dismiss the jury early for the weekend. That Sunday evening, the juror telephoned the court clerk to inform him that she would be unable to deliberate on Monday because of her continuing illness. She explained that she had an abscessed tooth and that due to her pregnancy, it could not be treated with medication. She expressed hope that she would be able to return on Tuesday. 12 Upon reconvening of the court on Monday, the district judge voiced his doubt that the juror would return the next day and stated that the juror's poor health had been a matter of concern to him on more than one occasion throughout the trial. Over the appellants' objections, the district court excused the juror for just cause pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 23(b) (Rule 23(b)) 2 and instructed the remaining eleven jurors to resume their deliberations. The jury returned a unanimous verdict the following day. 13 All the appellants contend that the district court erred in accepting the verdict of eleven jurors. Several of the appellants argue on appeal that Rule 23(b) is unconstitutional in that it violates their right to a unanimous verdict and their Sixth Amendment right to a twelve person jury. Appellants Ritch, Howard and Wilson argue that Rule 23(b)'s application to their conduct prior to August 1, 1983, the date the rule was amended to allow the court to dismiss a juror for just cause despite the parties' objections, violates the Ex Post Facto clause of the Constitution. Art. I, Sec. 9, cl. 3. These claims were never presented to the trial court, however, and may not be raised for the first time on appeal. Cotton v. U.S. Pipe & Foundry Co., 856 F.2d 158, 162 (11th Cir.1988). 14 All appellants also argue that the district court abused its discretion in dismissing this particular juror for just cause. 3 The appellants claim that the district court invoked Rule 23(b) too hastily--that it should have waited until the following day, Tuesday, to see if the juror would return as she had hoped. They contend that pursuant to United States v. Essex, 734 F.2d 832 (D.C.Cir.1984), the district court had an affirmative duty to investigate the juror's absence by contacting the juror or her doctor. They further argue that she might have been the lone holdout juror and that the district court erred by not inquiring of the remaining jurors whether this was so. 15 The decision to dismiss a juror for just cause is within the discretion of the district court and will not be reversed absent an abuse of that discretion. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 23(b) (stating that if the court finds it necessary to excuse a juror for just cause ... in the discretion of the court, a valid verdict may be returned by the remaining 11 jurors.) (emphasis added); United States v. Stratton, 779 F.2d 820, 832 (2nd Cir.1985). We have examined the record and cannot say that the district court abused its discretion in determining that just cause existed to dismiss this juror. The trial transcript indicates that the attorneys and the district judge were concerned about the health and comfort of this juror several times during the trial. Periodically throughout the course of the nine week trial, this juror left the proceedings abruptly. At one point, counsel advised the judge that the juror appeared to be ill and that she was crying. When she was late for court on another occasion due to a flat tire, the other jurors reported that she had been feeling ill on the previous day. A few days later, this juror informed the court that she had been taken to the hospital the previous evening, that her doctor was afraid that she might miscarry her baby, and that she needed to visit him again. The district court thus recessed the trial the following afternoon to accommodate her request. 4 Based on these incidents, when she again became ill during the deliberations, the district judge was entitled to conclude that she might not return the following day as she had hoped, and that even if she did she might become ill again, further delaying the deliberations. We note that the record does not present even the slightest basis to believe that this juror was a holdout juror or that the jury had reached any sort of impasse in its deliberations. 16 The appellants also urge that under United States v. Essex, 734 F.2d 832 (D.C.Cir.1984), the trial judge had an affirmative duty to contact the juror or her physician to investigate her absence before excusing her. We disagree. In Essex the trial judge decided to proceed with eleven jurors after one did not appear one morning for deliberation. As far as the record indicated, the court made no investigation regarding the missing juror: no one attempted to locate him or determine the reason for his absence. Indeed, there was nothing in the transcript to indicate that the court ever 'excused' the juror. The court just permitted the jury of 11 to proceed with its deliberations. Essex, 734 F.2d at 839 n. 9. In reversing the trial court, the D.C. Circuit stated that it was the court's clear duty to determine the whereabouts of the missing juror and make a finding that there was just cause for excusing him. Id. at 842 (emphasis in original). Unlike the facts of Essex, in the instant case the district court made a clear finding of just cause on the record. This was not a case in which the juror failed to appear without explanation; she notified the court clerk of the reason for her absence. Based on this report and the juror's history of illness throughout the trial, sufficient inquiry was made of her whereabouts. Under these circumstances, the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in accepting an eleven-juror verdict.