Opinion ID: 2422650
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidentiary hearing on remand

Text: At the hearing on remand, Juror Number 11 testified, and his employment records confirmed, that in fact he worked on Hall's particular prison tier four times prior to the trial and in the building that housed Hall eight times before the start of the trial. Juror Number 11 testified that during each of his assignments to Hall's tier, his job included conducting phone punches every half hour. A phone punch involves the correctional officer looking into each individual's inmate's cell. It can be reasonably inferred that since Juror Number 11 worked four eight-hour shifts on the tier where Hall was housed, Juror Number 11 looked into Hall's cell on at least 64 different occasions. Juror Number 11 further explained that when working on Hall's tier, he was also responsible for handing out the mail. In doing so, he would read the names on the envelopes and then handed the mail to the corresponding inmate. Despite the assignment to Hall's tier and building, Juror Number 11 said that he did not recall any specific interaction with Hall prior to the trial. He explained that due to the large number of inmates, correctional officers typically only become aware of particular inmates if they have behavioral or disciplinary problems. According to Juror Number 11, Hall did not demonstrate either behavioral or disciplinary problems. Juror Number 11 acknowledged that after the trial, he had a direct conversation with Hall on his tier in which he confirmed that he was a juror in Hall's trial. Hall testified that he knew Juror Number 11 prior to being incarcerated because of ten separate interactions when that juror worked at a Wawa store located in Dover, Delaware. Juror Number 11 acknowledged that he had worked at Wawa immediately prior to his employment at the Delaware Correctional Center. Hall further testified to one particular occasion in which Juror Number 11 and Hall had a conversation while Hall was awaiting trial concerning an interaction they had at Wawa. Juror Number 11 denied having had this conversation. Accepting Juror Number 11's testimony, the Superior Court found that the juror did not know or have contact of any significance with Defendant at any stage during Defendant's pretrial or trial proceedings. The Superior Court concluded that Hall received a fair and impartial trial and that Juror Number 11 was not impermissibly biased against Defendant, and did not infect the jury in any way. This appeal followed.