Opinion ID: 1711877
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: reading brooks' testimony to jury

Text: Bao contends that he should have been granted a mistrial because Brooks' testimony was read to the jury. He argues that the testimony that was read to the jury did not precisely answer the jury's question. He argues that the probative value of testimony was outweighed by the danger of undue emphasis the reading placed on the testimony. We have stated on several occasions that allowing a jury to rehear only portions of the evidence after the jury has commenced deliberations is not to be encouraged, but is a matter within the discretion of the trial court. State v. Dixon, 259 Neb. 976, 614 N.W.2d 288 (2000). See State v. Gutierrez, 260 Neb. 1008, 620 N.W.2d 738 (2001). When a jury makes a request to rehear certain evidence, under the common-law rule, the trial court must discover the exact nature of the jury's difficulty, isolate the precise testimony which can solve it, and weigh the probative value of the testimony against the danger of undue emphasis. State v. Gutierrez, supra ; State v. Dixon, supra . If, after this careful exercise of discretion, the court decides to allow some repetition of the evidence, it can do so in open court in the presence of the parties or their counsel or under strictly controlled procedures of which the parties have been notified. See State v. Dixon, supra . Here, when the jury asked for a transcription of Brooks' testimony, the court refused to provide the jury with a transcript and sought to determine the exact nature of any difficulty. When the jury made it clear that the jury disagreed over what Brooks said about who was around the red car, the court reviewed the testimony and isolated those portions that best addressed the area of the jury's concern. After considering the probative value of the testimony to the case, the court then decided to read only those limited portions of the testimony to the jury. The testimony was read in open court and in the presence of Bao and his attorneys. The reading of the testimony did not precisely answer the jury's question and may have emphasized a limited portion of Brooks' testimony. The district court, however, followed the correct procedure and limited the reading of testimony to the narrow issue inquired by the jury. Under these circumstances, the court did not abuse its discretion in choosing to read portions of testimony to the jury. Likewise, the court did not abuse its discretion in denying Bao's motion for a mistrial.