Opinion ID: 1987576
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: outside influence.

Text: Appellant complains that the jury was exposed to improper outside influences. Although RCr 10.04 facially proscribes juror testimony about anything that occurred in the jury room unless the testimony establishes that the verdict was made by lot, an interpretation of RCr 10.04 that would exclude evidence of outside influence obviously would implicate a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confrontation, because the jury would be exposed ex parte to evidence that was not subject to cross-examination. See Parker v. Gladden, 385 U.S. 363, 364-65, 87 S.Ct. 468, 470, 17 L.Ed.2d 420 (1966); Turner v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 466, 472-73, 85 S.Ct. 546, 550, 13 L.Ed.2d 424 (1965). In Doan v. Brigano , the Sixth Circuit declared that an Ohio Rule of Evidence proscribing juror testimony on outside influence absent evidence independent of that furnished by the jurors, themselves, was unconstitutional as contrary to established Supreme Court precedent. Doan, 237 F.3d at 732. Specifically, in Mattox v. United States , the juror affidavits described one instance in which the bailiff made inappropriate remarks to them regarding the defendant's guilt and informed them that this was the third man he had killed, 146 U.S. at 142, 13 S.Ct. at 51, and another instance in which a newspaper article that commented on the strength of the evidence against the defendant was brought into the jury, room and read aloud in the presence of the jury. Id. at 143, 13 S.Ct. at 51-52. Distinguishing between the secret thought[s] of one [juror] and the exposure of the jury to extraneous prejudicial information, the Court held that the evidence of outside influence was admissible and required a new trial. Id. at 148-49, 153, 13 S.Ct. at 53-54. Likewise, in Parker , the Court ordered a new trial where the bailiff told the jury during deliberations that the defendant was a wicked man, that he was guilty, and that any error in finding the defendant guilty would be corrected by the Supreme Court. Id. at 363-64, 87 S.Ct. at 470. Similarly, in Ne Camp v. Commonwealth, 311 Ky. 676, 225 S.W.2d 109, 112 (1949), our predecessor court held that Criminal Code of Practice § 272, which contained language identical to RCr 10.04, could not be used to render incompetent evidence that a juror told another juror during deliberations that she had sought the advice of a priest who advised her that it would not be a sin to impose the death penalty. And in Hodge v. Commonwealth, Ky., 68 S.W.3d 338 (2001), we remanded an appeal from the denial of an RCr 11.42 motion in a death penalty case for an evidentiary hearing on an allegation of jury tampering during deliberations. Id. at 341-42. Several of the juror affidavits in this case related an incident in which one of the jurors raised a window in the jury room and observed one of Appellant's male relatives who had been a key defense witness standing outside and staring at the jury room window. This caused some of the jurors to become uncomfortable, and they requested the sheriff to ask the man to move away from the window. The seminal case on inappropriate juror contacts, Remmer v. United States, 347 U.S. 227, 74 S.Ct. 450, 98 L.Ed. 654 (1954), states that any private communication, contact, or tampering directly or indirectly, with a juror during a trial ... is, for obvious reasons, deemed presumptively prejudicial.... Id. at 229, 74 S.Ct. at 451. However, a hearing is required only when the alleged contact presents a likelihood of affecting the verdict, and bias is not implied, but must be demonstrated by the moving party. United States v. Frost, 125 F.3d 346, 377 (6th Cir. 1997). This particular contact was brief and limited. United States v. Walton, 908 F.2d 1289, 1297 (6th Cir. 1990). It would be tenuous, at best, to conclude that a brief look, or even a glare, required a finding of bias. White v. Smith, 984 F.2d 163, 165 (6th Cir. 1993) (defendant's mother's remark to the jurors that she would pray for them was innocuous); United States v. Marques, 600 F.2d 742, 747 (9th Cir. 1979) (no hearing required where juror merely saw the four defendants in the case entering the same car). Additionally, all of the cases upon which Appellant relies involved much more significant contact than occurred in the case sub judice. See, e.g., United States v. Jackson, 209 F.3d 1103, 1107-08 (9th Cir.2000) (threatening telephone call); United States v. Cheek, 94 F.3d 136, 139 (4th Cir.1996) (bail bondsman claiming to be a representative of the court took juror to what apparently, was intended to be a meeting with defendant); Krause v. Rhodes, 570, F.2d 563, 565 (6th Cir.1977) (direct threats against juror and his family); State v. Bailey, 713 So.2d 588, 608-09 (La.Ct.App.1998) (juror told other jurors that his wife had received a telephone call from a person with the same name as defendant and that the caller had asked to speak to their daughter); State v. Bisaccia, 319 N.J.Super. 1, 724 A.2d 836, 839 (1999) (two jurors were followed by a man whom they had seen in the courtroom). Jurors are often exposed during trial to numerous witnesses and spectators. To conclude that a mere unkind look from one of them warrants a new trial would create endless possibilities for frivolous claims that would wreak havoc upon the finality of judgments. Some of the juror affidavits alleged that Appellant had winked and smiled in a flirtatious manner at some of the female jurors. Appellant's argument that these incidents resulted in prejudicial bias fails for the same reasons as the previously discussed incident. Furthermore, Appellant could not obtain relief from any prejudice resulting from his own improper behavior during trial. Ex Parte Frazier, 758 So.2d 611, 614 (Ala.1999) (defendant threw pen at jury and called them motherf____ white jurors); State v. Linkous, 177 W.Va. 621, 355 S.E.2d 410, 413 (1987) (jurors saw defendant in a scuffle with officers at trial: It appears to be rather uniformly held that misconduct, or disruptive behavior on the part of a defendant during the course of a criminal trial will not establish grounds for obtaining a mistrial.).