Opinion ID: 2823812
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: CRE 606(b): Language and Purpose

Text: Â¶10Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â CRE 606(b) is broad in scope: It precludes courts from peering beyond the veil that shrouds jury deliberations. Specifically, the rule provides as follows: 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 juryâs deliberations or to the effect of anything upon his or any other jurorâs mind or emotions as influencing him to assent to or dissent from the verdict or indictment or concerning his mental processes in connection therewith. CRE 606(b). The rule does, however, enumerate three narrow exceptions: â[A] juror may testify about (1) whether extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jurorsâ attention, (2) whether any outside influence was improperly brought to bear upon any juror, or (3) whether there was a mistake in entering the verdict onto the verdict form.â Id. Coloradoâs rule is virtually identical to its federal counterpart. Compare id. with Fed. R. Evid. 606(b). See also CRE 606(b) committee cmt. (â[CRE] 606(b) has been amended to bring it into conformity with the 2006 amendments to the federal rule . . . .â). Â¶11Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â CRE 606(b) effectuates three fundamental purposes: It âpromote[s] finality of verdicts, shield[s] verdicts from impeachment, and protect[s] jurors from harassment and coercion.â People v. Harlan, 109 P.3d 616, 624 (Colo. 2005). Thus, the rule âstrongly disfavors any juror testimony impeaching a verdict.â Id. We have recognized that the federal rule is equally forbidding. See Stewart ex rel. Stewart v. Rice, 47 P.3d 316, 321 (Colo. 2002) (â[Fed. R. Evid. 606(b)] would have been hard to paint with a broader brush, and in terms of subject, [its] exclusionary principle reaches everythingÂ which relates to the juryâs deliberations, unless one of the exceptions applies.â (quoting Christopher B. Mueller, Jurorsâ Impeachment of Verdicts and Indictments in Federal Court Under Rule 606(b), 57 Neb. L. Rev. 920, 935 (1978))). Â¶12Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â With the proscriptive language and purpose of CRE 606(b) in mind, we now consider whether the rule operates to bar admission of the juror affidavits in this case.