Opinion ID: 2155874
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: verdict rec'd after colloquy w/juror jury asked to return for further deliberation

Text: The next morning the judge again asked counsel for suggestions on how to proceed. The prosecutor argued that the guilty verdict should be accepted as announced on the previous day. The defense counsel requested that the jury retire for further deliberations, that the jury be polled, or that a mistrial be declared. The judge entered on the docket sheet a verdict of guilty, did not order further deliberations, denied defense counsel's request to poll the jury and denied the motion for a mistrial. The defendant next filed a motion for a new trial, in which he claimed that the procedure for recording the verdict was invalid because immediate entry of the verdict had not been made on the complaint or docket sheet. After hearing argument on the motion, the judge found that the procedure for the recording of matters in the jury session is that a working docket sheet is kept in the case folder and the session clerk or the judge makes handwritten entries during court on that docket. An identical form is kept in the docket book in the clerk's office and the handwritten entries from the working docket are typed on this form at a later time. When a jury returns a verdict, the session clerk hands the working docket sheet to the judge. The clerk then presents the verdict slip to the judge for examination. The session clerk takes the verdict slip from the judge and asks the jury to hearken to their verdict. The judge then handwrites or checks boxes to indicate that a verdict has been reached, the nature of the verdict, and the sentence imposed. The judge indicated that this procedure was followed in this case, although the judge's written entry on the working docket sheet did not indicate the nature of the verdict or the penalty. It was not until the judge met with the jurors after the verdict had been reached, announced, and noted, that the juror stated she may have been pressured into voting guilty. Based on the existence of a verdict, which he considered unanimous and formally accepted, the judge denied the defendant's motion for a new trial. The defendant has appealed the orders denying his various requests for relief, including his motion for a new trial. We transferred the appeal to this court on our own motion. We find no error and affirm the defendant's conviction. 1. The defendant first argues that there was no valid verdict rendered because the procedure in this case failed to follow the directions specified in Mass. R. Crim. P. 27 (a) and (d), [2] and 28 (a), [3] 378 Mass. 897, 898 (1979). The defendant directs attention to Commonwealth v. Tobin, 125 Mass. 203, 208 (1878), which sets forth a ritual for the return and recording of a verdict in a criminal case. [4] The defendant maintains that this is the procedure prescribed by rule 27 (a), and he contends that, because the verdict in this case was not minuted by the clerk when it was received, there was a legally invalid verdict. [5] The verdict is the formal decision of the jury, empaneled and sworn to try the case, as reported to the court. The verdict which determines the rights of the parties, and is admitted of record, and upon which judgment is rendered, is the verdict received from the lips of the foreman in open court. Commonwealth v. Tobin, supra at 206. See A Juvenile v. Commonwealth, 392 Mass. 52, 56-57 (1984); Rich v. Finley, 325 Mass. 99, 105-107 (1949); Lawrence v. Stearns, 11 Pick. 501, 502 (1831); Commonwealth v. Harris, 23 Mass. App. Ct. 687, 692-693 (1987); Commonwealth v. Powers, 21 Mass. App. Ct. 570, 574 (1986); Commonwealth v. Diaz, 19 Mass. App. Ct. 29, 31-32 n. 2 (1984); Commonwealth v. Kalinowski, 12 Mass. App. Ct. 827, 829-830 (1981). As required by this statement of the law, and by Mass. R. Crim. P. 27 (a), the jury in this case returned to the judge in open court, through their foreperson, [6] a general verdict that the defendant was guilty of the crime with which he was charged. All six members of the jury unequivocally indicated that they concurred in the verdict. This accorded with proper procedure. See K.B. Smith, Criminal Practice and Procedure § 1967 (1983). The procedure that is usually followed relative to the return of a verdict is that once the jury has returned to the courtroom, the Clerk inquires of the foreperson if a verdict has been reached and if the answer is in the affirmative the verdict slip is given to the Clerk who hands it to the Judge. The Judge examines the verdict slip to see if it is technically in order and if it is, the Clerk will announced the verdict and then have the jurors affirm their verdict. Id. We agree with the judge that it was not essential to the validity of the verdict to have the clerk make a notation of it on the back of the complaint. The judge stated in his memorandum that [t]he universal record keeping practice in the District Court is not to write on the complaint. The practice in the Pittsfield jury session is to have the judge endorse the `working' docket sheet, and the official docket sheet is typed at some subsequent time. Here, the judge received a verdict which showed no irregularity, and immediately marked the working docket sheet [7] to indicate his receipt of that verdict, although he did not note its substance. At this point, the jury had completed its work, [8] and a valid verdict had been properly entered. See Lawrence v. Stearns, 11 Pick. 500, 501 (1831) (an open and public verdict, given in and assented to, in open court, as the unanimous act of the jury, and affirmed and entered of record, in the presence and under the sanction of the court is complete and valid). [9] 2. The defendant also argues that the reluctant juror's answers to the judge's questions required further action by the judge before the verdict could be accepted. He maintains that the judge was required either to poll the entire jury or to direct them to engage in further deliberations. In view of our conclusion that a valid verdict already had been rendered, we disagree. We have said that [p]ostverdict interview should be initiated only if the court finds some suggestion that there were extraneous matters in the jury's deliberations. Commonwealth v. Fidler, 377 Mass. 192, 203 (1979). Faced with such suggestions, a trial judge properly may conduct a neutral, noncoercive interview with the juror. See Commonwealth v. Hebert, 379 Mass. 752, 754-755 (1980). However, the scope of that interview is strictly confined to the issue of whether any extraneous materials or statements might have come to the jury's attention before they delivered their verdict. See Commonwealth v. Fidler, supra at 196; Woodward v. Leavitt, 107 Mass. 453, 466 (1871). The judge is precluded from inquiring into the internal decision making process of the jury as a whole or of the individual juror being questioned. See Commonwealth v. Webster, 391 Mass. 271, 276 (1984); Commonwealth v. Fidler, supra at 198; Commonwealth v. Grace, 370 Mass. 746, 755 (1976); Commonwealth v. Saunders, 20 Mass. App. Ct. 917, 917 (1985). The judge in this case properly interviewed the reluctant juror in a neutral and noncoercive manner. He assured himself that the juror had in fact voted to convict the defendant. The only other information discovered in the interview was that the juror felt pressured by her fellow jurors to vote guilty. This fact clearly pertains to the internal decision making process of the jury. See United States v. Stoppelman, 406 F.2d 127, 133 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 981 (1969) (The fact that some jurors have weaker wills than others  or that one individual may bow to the pressure of eleven  cannot be a cause for reopening a case). The interview yielded no evidence of extraneous influence on the jury, such as unauthorized view of sites by jurors, improper communications to jurors by third persons, or improper consideration of documents not in evidence. See Commonwealth v. Fidler, supra at 197. Accordingly, there was no basis for the judge to question the verdict's validity, and he committed no error by declining to poll the jury or to require further deliberations. 3. It follows from what has been said above that the judge also committed no error in denying the defendant's motions for a mistrial and a new trial. The orders appealed from are affirmed. The judgment of conviction is affirmed. So ordered.