Opinion ID: 1349791
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Malcolm X

Text: I will first examine the movie Malcolm X. The first inquiry is whether the defendants have met their threshold burden by bringing forward competent evidence of a prejudicial extraneous influence. Defendants rely, in part, on sealed affidavits of four jurors [10] to establish that the jurors had watched the movie Malcolm X during a recess. I do not question the limited use of the signed affidavits to show exposure to this extraneous influence. I also note that existence of this influence was established on the record in the motion for mistrial. As noted earlier, beyond showing exposure to an extraneous influence, the defendants, absent an unauthorized ex parte communication, [11] must make a showing of prejudice reverberating from the extraneous information. The test for determining whether the threshold level of prejudice is met is whether defendants have established a real and substantial possibility that the extraneous matter could have affected the verdict. The first factor in this threshold inquiry is the nature and source of the extraneous material. The defendants focus their claim of prejudice resulting from the showing of Malcolm X on the opening footage of the movie. In an attempt to make his movie more provocative, producer-director Spike Lee presents opening footage of the beating of motorist Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers against the backdrop of a burning American flag. Along with these images, the viewer hears words from a speech by Malcolm X. Virtually every person in America had been exposed to the footage detailing the brutal beating given Mr. King by members of the Los Angeles Police Department. While it was unfortunate that the jurors were perhaps once again confronted with this footage, is it the defendants' position that the jurors became inflamed and were engulfed by emotion and thus rendered incapable of rendering a fair verdict? The possibility that a few police officers will absolutely violate department rules and procedures is never far from the minds of African-Americans, no matter their station in life. The presence of racism in any community can, and sometimes does, cause American citizens to react emotionally and render less than clear judgment. But there is no reasonable probability that the Rodney King footage affected the jurors in this case. Racism has not and will not quell the desire of African-Americans to fully exercise all the rights and responsibilities associated with democracy. If this were not true, then the four-hundred-year-old struggle for freedom and economic opportunity would have been abandoned long ago. The defendants have not established that the picture of one black man being beaten by police officers could reasonably have prevented the jurors from rendering a fair verdict. The words of Malcolm X in the opening sequence are indeed provocative. [12] But when these words are taken in the context of the effect of the overall message of the movie, their effect is greatly lessened. [13] Please be clear, I do not dismiss the power of words. I do dismiss the conclusion that there is a real and substantial possibility that conscientious jurors watching this movie, shown during a recess purely for entertainment purposes, would have allowed it to affect their verdict. [14] Regarding the nature and source of this extraneous influence, the defendants emphasize that the movie was supplied by the court; this factor alone is not determinative. While this fact does tend to bolster the movie's potential prejudicial effect, the nature of this particular extraneous influence weighs heavily against a finding of prejudice. The movie was chosen by the jurors from three others made available to them purely for purposes of entertainment. [15] The jurors should be credited with enough sophistication to separate entertainment from evidence. Another important factor relevant to the threshold inquiry is the timing of the jurors' exposure to the movie. The jurors were not exposed to this extraneous influence during deliberations, but during a two-day recess near the end of the trial. Extraneous influences during the deliberative process are deemed more prejudicial than those finding their way to the jury earlier in the trial. This fact distinguishes this case from others finding that juror exposure to a movie of a potentially prejudicial nature during deliberations required reversal. See Seekers v. State, 35 Ala.App. 40, 44 So 2d 628 (1949); Gonzales v. State, 593 S.W.2d 288 (Tenn., 1980). [16] Other factors relevant to the initial threshold inquiry have not been argued or sufficiently developed by the defendants in order to support their burden. Regarding the number of jurors exposed to the movie, while the affidavits seem to indicate that every member of both juries was present in the room during the playing of at least part of the movie, they do not clearly indicate that every member actually viewed it. Regarding discussion of the extraneous material among the jurors, the defendants have not established that the movie was extensively discussed. Finally, the timing of exposure and the length of deliberation do not support a conclusion that the movie affected the verdict. As already noted, those jurors who watched the movie did so well before deliberations began, and before being charged by the court to consider only the evidence before them, free from prejudice or sympathy. [17] Further, both juries deliberated for a substantial period, more than a week, before rendering a guilty verdict. Consequently, rather than supporting their threshold burden, the timing and length of deliberation here supports the conclusion that the movie did not likely play a role in the verdicts. Given the unique facts of this case, we determine that defendants have failed to meet the threshold burden of establishing a real and substantial possibility that the viewing of the movie Malcolm X affected the verdicts. Virtually every factor courts have identified as relevant weighs against a finding that the movie could reasonably have affected the verdicts. I would further find that, even if the defendants had met their initial burden, a reversal is not required here because it can be said, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the other evidence adduced at trial was so overwhelming that there is no real and substantial possibility that viewing the movie might have contributed to the convictions. Anderson, supra . In this regard, I agree with the Court of Appeals conclusion that reversal, on the basis of the showing of Malcolm X, was not required. The Court of Appeals explained that reversal was not required given the overwhelming evidence against defendants in favor of the convictions. By all eyewitnesses' accounts, both defendants struck Malice Green repeatedly with their flashlights while he offered little, if no, resistance. Fletcher, Pace, Hollins, Knox and Brown testified that Budzyn initiated the beating by repeatedly striking Green with his flashlight on the hands. Despite their inability to directly observe Budzyn striking Green in the head, these witnesses testified that Budzyn was on top of Green inside the car and was swinging his flashlight over his shoulder down toward Green. Based on this position and the sounds, it appeared to them that Budzyn's blows impacted Green's head. Furthermore, Brown actually saw Budzyn strike Green in the head several times. In addition to some of these witnesses, the testimony from the four medical technicians established that Nevers struck several blows while Green was covered in blood. Moreover, the number of cuts and bruises that Green sustained exceeded the number of blows to which defendants admitted rendering. Budzyn denied hitting Green at all, whereas Nevers admitted hitting Green five or six times. However, the medical examiner found nine cuts on Green's scalp and other cuts and bruises on his face and behind the ears. In all, the medical examiner opined that Green sustained at least fourteen separate blows to his head. Along with the testimony from civilian and medical eyewitnesses, the obvious implication is that either or both defendants were minimizing the amount of force utilized in arresting Green in order to justify the murder. Thus, in light of this evidence, we cannot say that the jury convicted defendants on the basis of emotions that could have arisen from watching the videotape. The evidence clearly supports the verdicts of second-degree murder. [Slip op at 247.] I respectfully disagree with the majority's conclusion that the evidence supporting second-degree murder against defendant Budzyn was not overwhelming. As noted by the Court of Appeals, and supported in the record, all five of the eyewitnesses, Fletcher, Pace, Hollins, Brown, and Knox, testified that Budzyn initiated the beating by repeatedly striking Green on the hands. Witnesses Pace and Hollins, who observed the scene from essentially the same vantage point, saw Budzyn swinging his flashlight over his shoulder down toward Green in the direction of Green's head. They both testified that on the basis of the positioning of Budzyn and Green, and the sound of impact, it appeared that Budzyn was repeatedly hitting Green on the head with his flashlight. [18] Further, eyewitness Brown, who observed the scene from a different vantage point, standing on the curb at a slight elevation and to the rear of the car, testified that he actually saw Budzyn strike Green on the head with the flashlight several times. [19] Witness Fletcher's testimony, which did not indicate that Budzyn's blows appeared to land on Green's head, was not necessarily inconsistent with the conclusion of the other witnesses. Fletcher explained that he did not see everything that transpired after observing the blows to Green's hand and after Budzyn positioned himself further into the car on top of Green because Officer Budzyn was positioned in a way that obstructed his view for a period. [20] I cannot help but conclude that the evidence concerning Budzyn's actions was overwhelming to support the verdict of second-degree murder. This conclusion would not be different even if, as the majority suggests, the injuries actually causing Green's death could have been inflicted solely by Nevers. While Budzyn's actions were perhaps less brutal than Nevers', he initiated the encounter with Green that ultimately resulted in Green's death. His actions went far beyond the level of force necessary in the situation. Rather than calling his partner to assist him in pulling Mr. Green out of the car and handcuffing him, Officer Budzyn exerted excessive force in attempting to get Green to open his clenched fist. Further, Budzyn did not step in to stop Nevers' beating of Green when Nevers continued the beating with actions that were clearly an unjustified and brutal show of force. The majority attempts to discount the evidence against Budzyn by questioning the credibility of the eyewitnesses. It may or may not be true that because each of these witnesses had been implicated in criminal activity, or because they may have smoked cocaine or consumed alcohol before witnessing the events leading up to Green's death, they were less credible than the EMS witnesses who testified against defendant Nevers. This Court, however, is not in a position to judge the relative credibility of the witnesses against the two officers. The jurors heard the testimony from eyewitnesses Pace, Hollins, Brown, and Fletcher, all of whom were subjected to thorough cross-examination, and evidently found it to be credible. [21]