Opinion ID: 2629747
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Ability of Post-Trial Remedy to Mitigate Error

Text: Mann's motion for new trial alleged the court erroneously denied the motion for mistrial made after the four jurors expressed fears of Mann's uncle. The motion alleged the jurors were prejudiced in their opinion of Mann and were erroneously permitted to continue serving as jurors. The motion was denied. A factually similar case is that of Rayton, 268 Kan. 711. In Rayton, the trial judge, in response to a juror's concerns about the presence of two young black males in and about the courthouse who had been staring at the jurors, invited the complaining juror and one other juror into his chambers to discuss the problem. The jurors stated their concerns and the trial judge recounted the concerns to the parties. One of the males was the defendant's younger brother and the sole defense witness. Defense counsel requested that the judge inquire of the jurors whether their ability to decide the case on the evidence had been compromised. The State agreed. The defendant waived his right to be present at this inquiry. The majority of the inquiry was recorded; however, the judge did go off the record at one point. The jurors assured the judge that their ability to decide the case based on the evidence had not been compromised. The judge related this second conversation to the parties and the transcript of the conversation was read back. The defense moved for a mistrial on the basis that the jurors had identified the defendant's younger brother as one of the intimidators, the jurors were terrified despite what they told the court, and the defendant would receive less than a fair trial. The judge denied the motion, stating that in his opinion the jurors would be able to decide the case based on the evidence. On appeal, this court applied the four-factor test and held that there was little, if any, likelihood that the ex parte communications changed the result of the trial. 268 Kan. at 717-20. It can be said beyond a reasonable doubt that this error had little, if any, likelihood of changing the result of trial. The failure to include Mann in these two conversations with the jurors was harmless. The second complained-of incident occurred when the trial judge conversed on the record with both counsel outside the presence of the defendant and the jury. The conversation occurred as a result of the jury requesting equipment to view a videotape in evidence. The videotape contained video from both the crime scene and the autopsy of the victim. Only the crime scene video had been shown to the jury and admitted into evidence. On the record, the trial judge noted that the prosecutor had made a duplicate tape that included only the video from the crime scene. Defense counsel agreed to the submission of the duplicate video to the jury. The duplicate videotape and the viewing equipment were then provided to the jury. Mann contends this was an improper ex parte communication with jurors. The judge did not, however, communicate with the jury on this occasion. The defendant's constitutional right to be present extends only to those stages of the criminal proceeding that are critical to the outcome and at which the defendant's presence would contribute to the fairness of the procedure. Calderon, 270 Kan. at 245. It is difficult to imagine, and Mann does not contend, that his presence at this particular conference among the judge and both counsel outside the presence of the jury could have contributed in any way to the fairness of the procedure. Mann merely relies upon the fact that he was not present and that the court made a decision during that time. This conversation was merely engaged in for the purpose of recording an evidentiary issue, and no decision was made that would have affected the trial's outcome. Mann did not have a constitutional or statutory right to be present under these circumstances. The third complained-of incident occurred when the jury requested a readback of testimony. The trial judge received the request and believed that one of the items requested to be read back was vague. The jury had requested Loren Artis  Defense answer testimony. Because neither counsel was present, the trial judge, by note, asked the jury the following question: Regarding your first request by defense answer testimony, do you mean the cross-examination of Mr. Artis by Mr. Lewis [defense counsel] or something else? The jury responded, stating that they wanted the cross-examination of Artis by defense counsel. The following day, outside the presence of the jury, the judge informed both counsel and Mann of the communication. Neither party objected. The testimony was then read back to the jury in Mann's presence, and the jury retired to continue its deliberations. The State contends this did not constitute an ex parte communication with the jury. Additionally, the State cites Scott, 271 Kan. 103, in support of its claim that this communication with the jury was harmless, noting that the judge's comment was not an answer and that the question did not involve the law or evidence. In Scott, the jury sent a question to the trial judge inquiring whether all the definitions in Instruction No. 12 pertained to premeditation. Without notifying counsel, the judge responded that Instruction No. 12 defines terms used throughout the instructions. The judge notified both counsel of the question and his response after the jury returned with a verdict. No objections were made. The Scott court held the judge's response to the jury's question was legally correct and completely innocuous. Although the response to the jury outside the defendant's presence was error, the court concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that the error had little, if any, likelihood of having changed the result of the trial. 271 Kan. at 112-13. The absence of Mann at this particular time did not implicate a basic consideration of fairness or undermine the function of a criminal trial. Thus, the court will apply a harmless error analysis. Once again, it is difficult to image how Mann's presence on this occasion could have changed the result of the trial. After the readback of the testimony, the jury foreman indicated that that was all the testimony the jury had wanted to be read back. Any misunderstanding or miscommunication could have been remedied at that point. Therefore, this court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that this contact with the jury also had little, if any, likelihood of having changed the result of trial. The judge's contact with the jury on this occasion was also harmless.