Opinion ID: 1103979
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Inappropriate Contact by Court Personnel Resulted in a Violation of Petitioner's Fundamental Rights.

Text: ¶ 20. Puckett asserts that [j]ury members consumed alcohol and played cards with members of law enforcement some of whom testified during the course of the trial. Puckett directs our attention to the affidavit of Ms. Tomoe Parker. Her affidavit reads: The policemen and jurors played cards together and drank beer together while at the Holiday Inn in Gulfport. ¶ 21. First, nothing in Ms. Parker's affidavit suggests that the jurors were drinking beer with law enforcement officers who testified during the course of the trial. Further, Puckett has not identified those law enforcement officers who allegedly testified and drank beer with the jurors. It appears that Ms. Parker is most likely referring to the bailiffs assigned to the sequestered jury. ¶ 22. Second, Puckett cites the Hawaii case of Kealoha v. Tanaka, 45 Haw. 457, 370 P.2d 468 (1962), and asserts that alcohol consumption by any member of the jury was improper and constituted error. What the Hawaiian court actually held was that the consumption of liquor by some of the jurors, once segregated, is improper and constitutes error, but does not amount to prejudicial error or conduct as a matter of law. The material inquiry is whether the party to be affected by the verdict was prejudiced thereby as matter of fact. Id. at 475. `The material inquiry in such cases is whether the defendant was prejudiced thereby, in other words, whether the use was such as to affect the mind of any of the jurors and thus deprive the defendant of the benefit of the condition of mind of each and all of the jurors to which he is entitled; and if it appears that the defendant was not prejudiced the verdict can not be reversed.' Id. (quoting Territory v. Ferris, 15 Haw. 139 (1903).) ¶ 23. In King v. State, 580 So.2d 1182 (Miss.1991), this Court reviewed a similar circumstance. The trial court in King entered a sequestration order that required jurors, along with two bailiffs, to stay at a Holiday Inn each night of the four-day trial. On two separate occasions, three of the jurors visited the motel's lounge. Id. at 1186. Upon learning of the juror's visits to the lounge, two of the defendants filed a post-trial Motion to Set Aside Verdict, Declare Mistrial, and Grant a New Trial. Id. Although the trial court expressed its disappointment in the jurors' conduct, the trial court held that the conduct did not bring about the vitiation of the guilty verdict. Id. Both the trial court and this Court were more concerned with the separation of the sequestered jurors. After finding that the defendants did not present even a scintilla of evidence, this Court affirmed the trial court's decision to overrule the motion. ¶ 24. In the instant case, Puckett has not asserted that the jurors were intoxicated or that they were separated. Puckett does not present evidence that the jurors discussed the case or that the jurors were subjected to outside influence. Puckett merely asserts that [s]uch conduct raises a specter of impropriety. This issue is without merit.