Opinion ID: 722508
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Private Communications With Jurors (Third Party Contacts)

Text: 9 There are two main assertions of illicit private communications to the jurors, one revolving around the forewoman's husband, the other about an alternate who communicated with one of the jurors after having been dismissed for the deliberations. Four jurors gave affidavits after trial saying that the forewoman said that her husband told her to nail the defendants. One alternate juror supplied dim support, saying that the forewoman talked a lot about what her husband thought of the case, but that she could not remember specific comments. She also claimed that the husband came to court frequently, maybe three or four times a week. The district court held a hearing to question the forewoman, who stated that she had discussed the evidence once with her husband during the trial but that he had not commented, and that he had come to see the trial on two occasions. The court credited the forewoman's statement that her husband didn't say anything about defendants' guilt, and noted the tensions that had existed among some of the jurors because of the forewoman's strong personality. 821 F.Supp. at 746-47. The court did not call the jurors who had given affidavits, concluding that even if the forewoman had relayed the alleged remark, it would not have been adequate to support a finding of actual prejudice. 10 The second claim arises from the post-trial affidavit of alternate juror Shalita Isaac, who was dismissed before deliberations began, saying that juror Carl Biggs called her during deliberations and said that he was trying to tell the marshal he needed to talk to the judge about the forewoman. Isaac claimed that Biggs said the forewoman wanted RICO badly, and that Isaac told Biggs not to take Nugent's houses and cars in forfeiture because Nugent had children who needed them. According to Isaac, Biggs said he was going to do the best he could. In other words, by her own account the dismissed alternate weighed in on the side of the defendants on the only merits issue as to which she expressed an opinion. 11 We start with the obviously more serious episode, the forewoman's husband's supposed exhortation to nail the defendants. Here appellants argue first that prejudice must be presumed, and second that the judge should have held a more extensive hearing. 12 The claim of presumption rests largely on Remmer v. United States, 347 U.S. 227, 74 S.Ct. 450, 98 L.Ed. 654 (1954), where the Court spoke of a presumption of prejudice from private contacts with the jurors: In a criminal case, any private communication, contact, or tampering, directly or indirectly, with a juror during a trial about the matter pending before the jury is ... deemed presumptively prejudicial.... Id. at 229, 74 S.Ct. at 451. The court stated that [t]he presumption is not conclusive, but the burden rests heavily on the Government to establish, after notice to and hearing of the defendant, that such contact with the juror was harmless to the defendant. In Remmer, a juror reported an attempt to bribe him to the judge, who then requested an FBI investigation. An FBI report concluded that the contact was made in jest, and the court consulted with the prosecutors, who agreed the contact was harmless. The Supreme Court seemed particularly concerned that the defense had no inkling of what had happened; hence the emphasis on notice to the defendant and a hearing: The trial court should not decide and take final action ex parte on information such as was received in this case, but should determine the circumstances, the impact thereof upon the juror, and whether or not it was prejudicial, in a hearing with all interested parties permitted to participate. Id. at 229-230, 74 S.Ct. at 451. 13 [319 U.S.App.D.C. 273] Remmer preceded adoption of Rule 606(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which interestingly cut off the principal means by which one might directly dispel the presumption of prejudice--interrogation of jurors as to the impact of an improper contact: 14 Upon an inquiry into the validity of a verdict or indictment, a juror may not testify as to any matter or statement occurring during the course of the jury's deliberations or to the effect of anything upon that or any other juror's mind or emotions as influencing the juror to assent to or dissent from the verdict or indictment or concerning the juror's mental processes in connection therewith, except that a juror may testify on the questions whether extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jury's attention or whether any outside influence was improperly brought to bear upon any juror. 15 (Emphasis added.) The exception for improper outside influence allows testimony about the fact and nature of the contact (the input, as it were), but not about the effect it produced on the juror's state of mind. See Tanner v. United States, 483 U.S. 107, 116-27, 107 S.Ct. 2739, 2745-51, 97 L.Ed.2d 90 (1987) (explaining the origins of and rationale behind the rule); United States v. Maree, 934 F.2d 196, 201 (9th Cir.1991) (distinguishing between statement and its impact). Thus, if the Remmer presumption applied in full force, Rule 606(b) would generally make it difficult or impossible to overcome a presumption of prejudice once a jury had reached its verdict and a third-party contact were shown. The Tenth Circuit has suggested, accordingly, that [t]his effect of Rule 606(b) may require the courts to narrow [Remmer's] definition of 'presumptively prejudicial.'  United States v. Greer, 620 F.2d 1383, 1385 n. 1 (10th Cir.1980). 16 And narrow they have. In Smith v. Phillips, 455 U.S. 209, 102 S.Ct. 940, 71 L.Ed.2d 78 (1982), a habeas case, the Court addressed a claim of juror partiality based on the juror's having applied for a job with the prosecutor's office. Overturning the lower federal courts' insistence on a new trial, the Court said, This Court has long held that the remedy for allegations of juror partiality is a hearing in which the defendant has the opportunity to prove actual bias. 455 U.S. at 215, 102 S.Ct. at 945 (emphasis added). Of course one might distinguish between juror partiality and private contacts, but, far from doing so, the Court cited Remmer, and the attempted juror bribe there, as an illustration of the principle it was invoking. But assuring the defendant an opportunity to prove actual bias is out of synch with the Remmer presumption; why would a defendant enjoying a presumption in his favor need such an opportunity? Accordingly, the court in United States v. Pennell, 737 F.2d 521, 532-33 (6th Cir.1984), explicitly construed Phillips as working a substantive change in the law, eliminating any presumption of prejudice and placing on defendant a burden of showing prejudice. 17 The Supreme Court also seemed to reconfigure Remmer in United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993) (applying the plain error standard). There, with the acquiescence of counsel, alternate jurors sat with the jury during deliberations but were told by the trial court not to participate. In its discussion of what it called intrusion jurisprudence (outside intrusions on the jury), the Court appeared to see Remmer largely as a case illustrating the importance of weighing the likelihood of prejudice rather than as a source of rigid rules. 18 There may be cases where an intrusion should be presumed prejudicial, ... but a presumption of prejudice as opposed to a specific analysis does not change the ultimate inquiry: Did the intrusion affect the jury's deliberations and thereby its verdict? We cannot imagine why egregious comments by a bailiff to a juror (Parker) or an apparent bribe followed by an official investigation (Remmer) should be evaluated in terms of prejudice, while the mere presence of alternate jurors during juror deliberations should not. 19 Id. at 739, 113 S.Ct. at 1780-81 (emphasis partially added). 20 Although often referring to Remmer, this court has in fact not treated the supposed presumption as particularly forceful, but rather has accepted the necessity of focusing [319 U.S.App.D.C. 274] on the specific facts of the alleged contact, and, as a result, has found broad discretion in the trial court to assess the effect of alleged intrusions. In United States v. Williams, 822 F.2d 1174, 1188 (D.C.Cir.1987), a defense witness told three jurors at the end of the first day's deliberations that they were deliberating so long only to collect more jurors' fees. Noting that assessment of the bias required consideration of a range of factors, including the nature of the communication, the length of the contact, the possibility of removing juror taint by a limiting instruction, and the impact of the communication on both the juror involved and the rest of the jury, id. at 1188-89, we said that the trial judge was best qualified to make the assessment, so that its rulings on a motion for a mistrial [for juror bias] will be overturned only for an abuse of discretion, id. at 1188. See also United States v. Fafowora, 865 F.2d 360, 363 (D.C.Cir.1989) (stressing deference to district court's assessment of effect of third-party communications); United States v. Butler, 822 F.2d 1191, 1196 (D.C.Cir.1987) (same). 21 Thus we think the district court was correct under the Supreme Court's and our cases to inquire whether any particular intrusion showed enough of a likelihood of prejudice to justify assigning the government a burden of proving harmlessness. See 821 F.Supp. at 738 (applying the analysis to exposure to newspaper articles). (In the case of the forewoman's husband's alleged remarks, the district court appeared to apply the same analysis as an alternative basis for its holding. Id. at 747.) We understand the court's decision in Stockton v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 852 F.2d 740 (4th Cir.1988), saying that while a presumption of prejudice attaches to an impermissible communication, the presumption is not one to be casually invoked, id. at 745, as effectively embracing that view. 22 As we said, the court credited the forewoman but, assuming in the alternative that the remark had been made, concluded that it would not have been prejudicial. Appellants say this was error, and cite several cases from other circuits to support their position. Thus the court remanded for a new trial in Maree, where a juror consulted with two friends who told her people like [defendant] should be incarcerated, 934 F.2d at 202; in Greer, where the jurors had chatted with a marshal about the defendant's possible sentencing (and expungement of conviction) under the Youth Corrections Act, 620 F.2d at 1385; and in Stockton, where the owner of a diner at which the jurors were lunching during deliberations told jurors they ought to fry the son of a bitch, 852 F.2d at 743-44. 23 Whether we focus on the forewoman herself or the other jurors, however, we think the district court was within its discretion in concluding that the remark was not likely to have had any effect on the outcome. Although the supposed remark was forceful, it was isolated; the fifth juror's claim that more than one of the husband's opinions had been relayed was supported by no other jurors and contained no specifics. Further, the judge, who was in a position to observe and whose comment defendants do not contradict, said the forewoman had a strong personality, and had leaned heavily toward conviction during deliberations, 821 F.Supp. at 746, suggesting the improbability that the supposed remark either could have affected her own views or could have added much to any influence she may have had on fellow jurors. Thus, still indulging the assumption that the remark was made at all, the husband's two cents' worth appears subordinate in a way that could not possibly be said of the third-party comments that intruded in the cases relied on by appellants, which in any event display less deference to the district court than does this circuit and which in some cases seem to apply a strong presumption of prejudice to all or at least a very broad set of third-party contacts. 24 Moreover, the evidence against defendants was overwhelming. Cf., e.g., Dallago v. United States, 427 F.2d 546, 558 (D.C.Cir.1969) (reversal because of presence of unadmitted document in jury room would not be appropriate where other proof of guilt was overwhelming: Certainly the weight of the prosecution's evidence becomes relevant in estimating 'what effect the error had or reasonably may be taken to have had upon the jury's decision.' ) (quoting Sawyer v. [319 U.S.App.D.C. 275] United States, 303 F.2d 392, 395 (D.C.Cir.1962)); United States v. Smith, 85 F.3d 646, 646 (D.C.Cir.1996) (denying petition for rehearing). Here, the FBI recorded most of the 1990 conversations between defendants Williams-Davis and Nugent and their New York suppliers, defendant Restrepo and Jimmy Bynoe, through the go-between Claude Juggins. In these conversations, defendants worked out deals to buy (and sell, in the case of Restrepo) large amounts of cocaine. Williams-Davis and Nugent showed themselves to be familiar with the prices of such amounts and confident of their ability to move them. In November 1990, for example, in the midst of discussions about a new deal, Nugent told Juggins that it would take him only a week to sell ten kilograms of cocaine. This confidence was well-founded; searches of R Street Crew stash houses revealed an elaborate apparatus for distributing cocaine (as well as large amounts of drugs and cash). The various houses and apartments contained a heat sealer and extensive packaging materials, money counters, electric scales, guns, and bullet-proof vests. 25 Testimony showed that Williams-Davis, Nugent, and Darryl Williams were leaders of the Crew, supervising a wide array of lieutenants, second lieutenants, runners, packagers, stash house owners, and others. They enforced the Crew's control over the neighborhood with violence, deadly if need be. On April 3, 1985, an argument broke out between Leon Clea--a leader of a rival drug gang--and Williams-Davis, Nugent, Darryl Williams, and other R Street Crew members over the gangs' competing territorial claims. R Street Crew members armed themselves and started shooting. According to Kenneth Watts (a cousin of Clea's) and Leon Clea himself, Darryl Williams shot Alton Clea (brother of Leon) point-blank in the face, killing him. Leon Clea further testified that Sean Martin, an R Street Crew lieutenant and brother of Anthony Nugent, shot Leon's brother Andre Clea in the foot, and that Nugent shot and wounded Leon himself. Those accounts mesh with that of Tracy Cave, an R Street Crew member, and a police sergeant who arrived on the scene shortly after the shootings. During a territorial dispute with the Bailey clan (to which we return later), Nugent and Kevin Williams-Davis together with other Crew members went to the Baileys' car repair shop seeking revenge for the killing of Nugent's brother. During the fray, Freddie Bailey was hit about 10 times but somehow managed to survive. Francis Scrivener, who was in the shop, was not so lucky: he was shot once and died. 26 Dale Webster, a coconspirator but one who provided very detailed descriptions, many of which were confirmed by other evidence, testified that defendant Joyce Boyd--who is Kevin Williams-Davis's and Darryl Williams's aunt--joined the conspiracy early. In late 1984 or early 1985, Webster said, Boyd recruited Webster to operate a stash house for her nephews. One day in early 1985, when Boyd and Webster were in Webster's house together, police showed up outside and the two flushed several thousand dollars' worth of cocaine down the toilet. Webster, with Boyd present, later explained to Williams-Davis what had happened. R Street Crew member Kenneth Sparrow's testimony confirmed Webster's. He said, for example, that at one point Jeffrey Williams had told him to take a day's proceeds (about $1,500 in cash) to Joyce at the Ebony Connection (her beauty shop), which he did. On the money laundering counts (which of course also involve conscious assistance to the drug conspiracy), the government showed through bank records that Boyd paid over $85,000 to lease and eventually buy a Mercedes that Williams-Davis was arrested driving in December 1988. The title was in Boyd's name only, and Williams-Davis's name does not appear on any of the financing documents. In June 1991 a search of Boyd's apartment turned up a 1990 proof of insurance form for the Mercedes in the names of both Williams-Davis and Boyd. 27 It is possible--and appellants appear to argue--that the court erred in confining the hearing as it did, quite independently of its alternative ruling that the alleged statement would not have been prejudicial. But our cases say clearly that the trial court has broad discretion over the methodology of inquiries into third-party contacts with jurors. Williams, 822 [319 U.S.App.D.C. 276] F.2d at 1190. We have explicitly rejected any automatic rule that jurors are to be individually questioned. Id. at 1190 n. 162. This latitude explicitly covers trial courts' choices as to the proper procedures for post-trial hearings. United States v. Butler, 822 F.2d 1191, 1196 (D.C.Cir.1987). The inquiries put to the juror need only be sufficiently detailed to permit the judge to determine whether any prejudice is likely to result. Id. Further, we think the court could properly consider, among the factors militating against extending the inquiry, the risk that massive examination and cross-examination would in fact amount to juror harassment. See 821 F.Supp. at 735; Tanner, 483 U.S. at 119-20, 107 S.Ct. at 2746-48 (addressing asserted juror alcohol and drug use, Court observed that if juror affidavits were readily accepted to overturn verdicts,  '[j]urors would be harassed and beset by the defeated party in an effort to secure from them evidence of facts which might establish misconduct sufficient to set aside a verdict' ) (quoting McDonald v. Pless, 238 U.S. 264, 267-68, 35 S.Ct. 783, 784-85, 59 L.Ed. 1300 (1915)). In any event, we think that where the court conducts an inquiry broad enough to lead it to a reasonable judgment that there has been no prejudice, on an assumption as to the facts favorable to defendants' claim, it has fulfilled its procedural as well as its substantive duty. 28 The telephone call from Isaac, the dismissed alternate juror, to Biggs, illustrates the importance of a non-literalist interpretation of Remmer. Though appellants characterize it as an alternate juror's participation in deliberations, and say that the trial court erred in failing to conduct a hearing, the colloquy was trivial on its face. According to Isaac's own affidavit her comments were favorable to defendants. While we can imagine such an intervention having a boomerang effect, that was plainly not true here. The jury acquitted defendants on the RICO counts, and, because the trial court dismissed the government's forfeiture case involving Nugent's house, the jury never addressed that issue. While the jury decided in favor of the forfeiture of Nugent's Mercedes, contrary to Isaac's alleged advice, it seems a great stretch to view that rather trivial aspect of the outcome to a boomerang effect from the phone call. As even appellants grudgingly admit, On a superficial level, perhaps, one could say that this particular ex parte contact did not prejudice Appellants. There is no reason to think that the result is otherwise at a non-superficial level. 29