Opinion ID: 428600
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Communication Concerning Dictionary

Text: 25 Birges contends that the trial judge, in response to a request, erroneously supplied a dictionary to the jury. He complains that the dictionary is a supplemental instruction, requiring counsel to be informed and defendant to be present, pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 43. Rule 43 guarantees to a defendant in a criminal trial the right to be present at every stage of the trial including the impaneling of the jury and the return of the verdict... A violation of the rule does not compel reversal unless a reasonable possibility of prejudice is shown. United States v. Alessandrello, 637 F.2d 131, 139 (3d Cir.1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 949, 101 S.Ct. 2031, 68 L.Ed.2d 334 (1981). 26 This issue was presented to the court in United States v. Gunter, 546 F.2d 861 (10th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 920, 97 S.Ct. 2189, 53 L.Ed.2d 232 (1977). In Gunter, the court stated: 27 The jury, while deliberating, sent a note to the judge asking for a definition of the word tacitly. Without consulting with counsel, the trial judge simply sent a Webster's dictionary into the jury room. Such may well have been error, but if it be deemed error, it was most certainly harmless error. No prejudice has been shown. 28 Gunter, 546 F.2d at 869. 29 Unlike the court in Gunter, we have no doubt that the sending of a dictionary into the jury room, without consulting counsel, is error. Questions or disputes as to the meaning of terms which arise during jury deliberations should be settled by the court after consultation with counsel, in supplemental instructions. Such guidance will avoid the danger that jurors will use the dictionary to construct their own definitions of legal terms which do not accurately or fairly reflect applicable law. The meager record presented to us on this issue, however, does not demonstrate that any prejudice occurred as a result of the alleged introduction of a dictionary into the jury's deliberations. 30