Opinion ID: 293348
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mr. LaViers' Sr. Conversation with Two Jurymen

Text: 96 Consolidation contends that the District Court committed reversible error in not declaring a mistrial because of a conversation Mr. LaViers, Sr., of South-East Coal, had with two members of the jury outside of court during the trial. The conversation took place in a coffee shop in the hotel where some of the witnesses, jurors, attorneys and parties in the trial were staying. Mr. LaViers was seated by a waitress at a table which was situated next to another table where two jurors were eating breakfast. The District Judge, after examining Mr. LaViers, 16 found that appellants were not prejudiced by this unintentional contact and declined to grant a mistrial. 97 Appellants maintain that the case of United States v. Harry Barfield Company, 359 F.2d 120 (5th Cir. 1966), controls, and a mistrial should have been granted on the basis of that authority. Reviewing the decision in United States v. Harry Barfield Company, it appears that several facts instrumental to that decision are lacking in the present case. In the Barfield Company case the prejudicial out-of-court conversation took place in an elevator between the president of the company and two jurors. The president of the company made an effort to approach the jurors and then 'cemented' the contact by volunteering information that his wife and her family dealt with the drug store owned by one of the jurors. The Court observed: 98 'By way of summation it is clear that the taxpayer president approached the jurors. They did not approach him. He sought to identify with juror Lockhard through the fact of knowing about his drug business. He then sought to cement the identity by giving the juror his wife's name which led to a conversation regarding his wife's family. He apparently also managed to find out that the juror from the radio station had known his brother.' 99