Opinion ID: 2621310
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Victim's family member in jury lounge

Text: After the jury began its penalty phase deliberations, a member of one victim's family spent time in the courthouse jury lounge area. The district court brought this to the State's and defense counsel's attention, and all parties agreed not to pursue the issue. Johnson, however, later asserted this incident as a basis for a new trial, and he contends that the district court erred in not holding an evidentiary hearing to ascertain whether there had been any prejudicial contact with the jurors. Johnson cites Isbell v. State, [19] where this court affirmed the district court's denial of a motion for a new trial following an evidentiary hearing on alleged juror misconduct. Isbell is inapplicable, however, because there the jurors actually spoke to third parties about the case; here, there is no indication that the family member contacted any juror. Because the parties initially agreed not to pursue this issue and there is no indication that any contact occurred, the district court acted within its discretion in denying Johnson's motion for an evidentiary hearing on this ground. The determination of the death sentence by the three-judge panel violated appellant's right to a jury trial.