Opinion ID: 1951964
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Gloria Dunn's Outburst

Text: Defendant contends that several extra-testimonial gestures and comments, which took place during Dunn's testimony, denied him a fair trial. We find that, when the comments were made, the court took immediate action to limit the impact that the comments might have had on the jury. Further, the jury's response to the questions posed by the court indicated that the jury was not aware of the worst of the exchanges. During Dunn's testimony, the following sidebar took place outside the presence of the jury: Mr. Scully: Judge, it's been brought to my attention that while we were at sidebar, while the court reporter was obviously busy transcribing that which occurred at sidebar, that Miss Dunn made a statement to my client in the presence of my co-counsel, which was threatening in nature. I think that you should question her ... as to what she specifically said. So that's part of the record. The Court: Miss Dunn, what did you say, remember when I walked over and told you that you were to make no comments, what did you say? The Witness: I said murderer, and I said I hope they kill his ass. He heard me. You killed her. The court admonished Dunn against any further outbursts. The court then placed the full exchange on the record. The Court, also, will place on the record that ... Miss Dunn, by her own admission turned to the defendant and said, Murderer. I hope they kill your ass, or something to that effect. What the record does not reflect is what the Deputy Clerk of the Court, Miss Diaz, has revealed to the Court during the recess, and that is that when the witness, Miss Dunn said something to the defendant, that defendant mouthed back the word Bitch. So that we have a little bit of an ongoing colloquy. Upon the jury's arrival in the courtroom, the court immediately asked its members if they had heard Dunn's comments directed at defendant. The majority of the jurors responded that they had. The court instructed the jury to ignore the comments. The Court instructs you that those comments are to be ignored. Now, that does not mean that you can put them out of your mind, obviously, and as the Court has explained to you before, remember the comment and remember that you're not to consider it in your determinations. They are determinations for you in this case. They are not for the witness. They are argumentative. They are improper and should be disregarded. Several days later, defense counsel requested that the court ask the jury whether any of its members had heard defendant's response to Dunn's outburst and, if any responded affirmatively, to interview each of the jurors individually to determine whether what they heard would prevent them from fairly deciding the case. The trial court agreed to question the jury but refused to question its members individually because the court reasoned that the outburst was not significant enough to overcome the overwhelming evidence. No jurors indicated that they heard defendant's response. Defendant moved for a mistrial based on Dunn's outburst. The court denied defendant's motion, finding that Dunn's comments were nearly inaudible and reflected poorly on her rather than damaging defendant's case. Additionally, during the jury charge at the end of the guilt phase, the court again warned the jury to ignore any improper remarks from the witnesses. There was no error. The court's immediate curative action coupled with the fact that the jurors did not see or hear defendant's response to Dunn's comments limited the prejudice that defendant could have suffered here. Additionally, Dunn's statements, while improper and inappropriate, were in accord with the testimony that she was giving. In State v. Loftin, 146 N.J. 295, 363, 680 A. 2d 677 (1996), the Court addressed an outburst by a member of the gallery directed at one of the jurors who was moved to tears by the defendant's allocution. This outburst prompted the jurors to inform the trial judge that they feared for their safety. Ibid. The court immediately informed the jury that it was to share any concerns that it had about safety or the performance of its duties with the court. Id. at 363-64, 680 A. 2d 677. Acceding to defense counsel's request not to question the jurors individually about the outburst for fear of drawing attention to it, the trial court simply asked a limited question whether any of them had seen or heard anything that would impact their ability to discharge their duties. Id. at 364, 680 A. 2d 677. All of the jurors responded in the negative. Ibid. Refusing to second-guess defense strategy, the Court rejected the defendant's argument on appeal that the trial court should have engaged in more extensive voir dire and provided a more specific jury instruction. Id. at 364-65, 680 A. 2d 677. There, we found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in taking the curative action that it did because the outburst had been brief, contained no factual information, and did not constitute victim impact evidence because the jury poll revealed that the jury was not affected by the episode. Id. at 366-67, 680 A. 2d 677. We recognize that the facts here are different. Dunn was a testifying witness whose outburst concerned the subject of her testimony. Her comments were directed at defendant and were audible to the jury. We find, however, that the same result should obtain. The trial court's curative action was sufficient. The court polled the jury and found that, although the jury did hear Dunn's outburst, it did not hear defendant's response. Furthermore, the court concluded that Dunn had already testified that defendant was a murderer. Her comments directed at defendant were in accord with her testimony. Dunn's outburst was brief and appropriately handled by the trial judge. The comments were limited; the trial court's response was swift.