Opinion ID: 2683743
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Failure to Excuse the Jury Foreperson

Text: [¶16] We review the court’s decision not to excuse the jury foreperson who worked for the same company as Logan only for obvious error because Logan failed to object. See State v. Lovejoy, 2014 ME 48, ¶ 19, 89 A.3d 1066 (defining obvious error). Ordinarily, “[w]hen a juror’s impartiality is questioned, the court should interview the juror to determine whether it is satisfied with the juror’s ability to . . . participate in reaching a verdict based on the evidence and the law.” State v. Rollins, 2008 ME 189, ¶ 12, 961 A.2d 546 (quotation marks omitted). Here, although the court did not interview the juror, it was clear that the juror and Logan did not recognize one another, and Logan did not request that the court 9 excuse the juror or conduct any further inquiry. Under these circumstances, there was no obvious error. See Lovejoy, 2014 ME 48, ¶ 19, 89 A.3d 1066; see also Rollins, 2008 ME 189, ¶ 21, 961 A.2d 546 (“We cannot say that any juror who is or was in the past socially acquainted with a witness cannot be impartial. Nor must a juror who works for the same company as a trial witness be deemed impartial.” (citation omitted)).