Opinion ID: 1614942
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 53

Heading: Deficient Suggestions as to Burden of Proof

Text: In his fourth assignment of error in this section, Bjorklund argues that the ex parte communication violated his right to be free from conviction except upon proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt as guaranteed by the due process provisions of the 5th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and article I, ง 3, of the Nebraska Constitution and that this violation cannot be subject to harmless error analysis. Specifically, Bjorklund argues that the trial judge suggested through the ex parte communication that the jury could use God's help in reaching their decision and that this suggestion was a preliminary instruction violative of due process. We disagree that the ex parte communication constituted any sort of suggestion or preliminary instruction on the burden of proof. Although neither this court nor the U.S. Supreme Court has dealt with this issue in the context of a similar fact situation, we find particularly persuasive in the disposition of this assignment of error the opinion of the Fifth Circuit in U.S. v. Ornelas-Rodriguez, 12 F.3d 1339 (5th Cir.1994). During voir dire, the trial court in that case told the jury, `you can go to church on Friday and Sunday of Easter Holy Week and pray that you made all the right decisions....' Id. at 1348. The defendant argued that this statement affected the jury's consideration of the burden of proof because the invitation to pray suggested that the jury could rely on a standard of judgment outside of the formal instructions given. The Fifth Circuit stated: Any error which may have occurred as a result of this casual remark was cured by the passage of time [11 days passed between the statement and the submission of the case to the jury] and the trial court's detailed instruction on the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof. There is no evidence that the statement in question deprived [the defendant] of a fair trial. Id. at 1349. In the instant case, more than 25 days after the ex parte communication occurred, the trial judge instructed the jury fully on the appropriate burden of proof to be met and that they could not consider anything outside the evidence presented in reaching their verdicts. The jurors at the hearing on the second motion for new trial clearly testified that they did not view the ex parte communication as a comment on the evidence or on Bjorklund's guilt or innocence. The record is clear that the communication which occurred between the trial judge and the jurors could not and did not constitute any kind of additional instruction on the burden of proof. We recognize that the U.S. Supreme Court has stated that a constitutionally deficient reasonable doubt instruction requires automatic reversal. Sullivan v. Louisiana, 508 U.S. 275, 113 S.Ct. 2078, 124 L.Ed.2d 182 (1993). Thus, Bjorklund is correct in arguing that a constitutionally deficient reasonable doubt instruction could not be subject to harmless error analysis. However, because we determine that the ex parte communication in this instance did not constitute such an instruction, we conclude this assignment of error to be without merit. See, also, Neder v. U.S., 527 U.S. 1, 119 S.Ct. 1827, 144 L.Ed.2d 35 (1999).