Opinion ID: 1897441
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Juror Contact Discussion

Text: [¶ 21] The prohibition against the use of jurors' testimony to impeach their own verdict or disclose the basis for their deliberations or decisions long predates codification of the rule in Rule 606(b) of the Maine Rules of Evidence [9] and the Federal Rules of Evidence. It is the general rule since Lord Mansfield's time that the testimony of a juror is not available to impeach a verdict in which he participated. Patterson v. Rossignol, 245 A.2d 852, 856 (Me. 1968). [¶ 22] We have repeatedly stated the public policy considerations against permitting jurors to impeach their own verdicts: (1) the need for stability of verdicts; (2) the need to conclude litigation and desire to prevent any prolongation thereof; (3) the need to protect jurors in their communications to fellow jurors made in the confidence of secrecy of the jury room; (4) the need to save jurors harmless from tampering and harassment by disappointed litigants; (5) the need to foreclose jurors from abetting the setting aside of verdicts to which they may have agreed reluctantly in the first place or about which they may in the light of subsequent developments have doubts or a change of attitude. Taylor v. Lapomarda, 1997 ME 216, ¶ 8, 702 A.2d 685, 688 (citing Patterson, 245 A.2d at 857). [¶ 23] While M.R. Evid. Rule 606(b) does not prohibit post-verdict contacts with jurors and M. Bar Rule 3.7(f)(2) [10] permits such contacts subject to certain conditions, the usefulness of such contacts in efforts to impeach verdicts is narrowly circumscribed. [A] court may not inquire into the substance of the jury's deliberations. State v. Coburn, 1999 ME 28, ¶ 7 n. 3, 724 A.2d 1239, 1242 n. 3. Juror testimony may be offered only to show `external misconduct of individual jurors' or `the exertion of outside influence' upon the jury. Marr v. Shores, 495 A.2d 1202, 1204 (Me.1985). [¶ 24] With similar ethical rules in effect, [11] our past decisions have been critical of efforts by defeated litigants to contact jurors and seek information about their deliberations in hope of impeaching the verdict. In Patterson, defeated counsel contacted a juror who had changed her vote between two jury polls in a civil case, which, at that time, required a unanimous verdict. See 245 A.2d at 855. Counsel reported that the juror had said she changed her vote because of alleged improper coercion from the jury foreman. See id. In refusing to consider the juror statement in support of the effort to overturn the verdict, the court noted: Her ill considered statements were not volunteered but were made to defeated counsel upon his abusive invasion of her privileged status as a juror and undoubtedly given under the mistaken idea that she owed him a duty of explanation. Such conduct by counsel is a serious impediment to the administration of justice, causes jurors great embarrassment and harassment, has the natural tendency to prevent free expression of thoughts amongst jurymen in their deliberations and is an effective deterrent to a willing acceptance of jury service. In Greeley v. Mansur, supra, [12] our Court has said that `[i]t is therefore useless for parties or their counsel, to interrogate jurors with respect to their verdicts, in the hope thereby to obtain evidence on which to ground a motion for a new trial. Such efforts will not avail.' This statement was repeated in Trafton v. Pitts, supra. [13] We now condemn the practice, not only as a useless gesture, but as undesirable and highly unethical and improper. Jurors must receive court protection against private investigations by defeated counsel unless the purpose thereof be to establish proof of external misconduct of individual jurors or of the existence of an outside influence which our Court has recognized as an exception to the rule of exclusion. 245 A.2d at 857-58. Under the current rules, evidence obtained from juror contacts can only be used to impeach a jury verdict if the evidence reveals that the jury was subject to extrajudicial prejudicial information or outside influence. See M.R. Evid. 606(b); Marr, 495 A.2d at 1204. [¶ 25] Many jurisdictions go even further in proscribing post-verdict juror contacts, and require a threshold showing of good cause, or the explicit prior approval of the court before attorneys may interview jurors. [14] [¶ 26] We do not encourage or suggest approval of post-verdict contact with jurors, seeking information with which to impeach the verdict, where such contacts are initiated without any cause to believe that improprieties occurred. Certainly, we could not vacate a conviction solely upon a defeated litigant's affidavit as to what he claims jurors may have said. We have no basis to determine the veracity of such statements or the circumstances in which they were made. To some jurors, a post-verdict contact by a convicted murderer's agent may be an event of particular stress and fear. Such contacts may or may not invite accurate responses that recount events as they occurred. Instead, because of the difficult position in which a juror is placed, such contact may invite statements which the contacted juror may think necessary to satisfy the agent. [¶ 27] The most action we could take, in the present context, is to remand the matter to the trial court for a hearing to determine the facts as to (i) whether Juror B may have had knowledge which, during voir dire, he knew he should disclose and did not disclose, (ii) the circumstances under which the defendant's agent contacted the jurors, and (iii) the representations the agent made to the jurors. The State urged the defense to join in pursuing an opportunity to obtain just such a hearing, at least with respect to Juror B's knowledge at the time of the voir dire, but the defense declined the opportunity, preferring to bring the matter forward for appeal on the available record. [¶ 28] The appellant has the burden and the responsibility to ensure that the record on appeal is sufficient to permit us to assess adequately each claim of error. See Cooper, 617 A.2d at 1014; Addington, 518 A.2d at 451; 2 Cluchey & Seitzinger, Maine Criminal Practice § 39.1 at VII-128 (1995). Accordingly, declining an opportunity to improve the quality of information available for review is not likely to be a successful tactic in appellate advocacy. [¶ 29] Rule 606(b) would permit the trial court to inquire about whether Juror B knew of information about Chesnel that, upon inquiry during voir dire, he knew he should disclose and did not disclose. See Clark v. United States, 289 U.S. 1, 9-12, 53 S.Ct. 465, 77 L.Ed. 993 (1933). A post-trial hearing would be the appropriate forum in which the accuracy of a juror's voir dire response and potential bias can be explored. See Robert G. Loewy, When Jurors Lie: Differing Standards for New Trials, 22 Am. J.Crim. L. 733, 737 (1995). To obtain a new trial on an allegation that a juror did not accurately answer a voir dire question, a party must demonstrate that (i) the juror failed to honestly or correctly answer a material question, and (ii) a correct response would have provided a valid basis for a challenge for cause. See McDonough Power Equip., Inc. v. Greenwood, 464 U.S. 548, 556, 104 S.Ct. 845, 78 L.Ed.2d 663 (1984); Grover v. Minette-Mills, Inc., 638 A.2d 712, 715 (Me. 1994). A new trial would be ordered only if the nondisclosure prevented the discovery of juror bias as probably, not speculatively existent. See Eckenrode v. Heritage Management Corp., 480 A.2d 759, 764-65 (Me.1984) (citation omitted). [¶ 30] Here, after many questions referring to the case had been asked, the court asked a question as to whether any of the jurors recalled anything in the news concerning either of the defendants, either concerning this case or any other reason. Even assuming that the reported statements made to the private investigator were accurate and given in a noncoercive context, they do not establish a dishonest or incorrect answer. The voir dire question was very vague. No more specific questions were sought by defense counsel such as: Other than information about this case, have you heard or read anything else about Mr. Chesnel? [¶ 31] In examining whether inaccurate responses to voir dire questions justify a new trial, one writer has observed that: [All] states require that defendants and their lawyers exercise due diligence. Essentially, this means that defendants will not be allowed to raise on appeal any error that could have been corrected at the trial level. The rule has two main applications in practice. First, the lawyer must ask specific questions during voir dire designed to elicit the concealed information from the prospective juror. Second, defendants and their lawyers must immediately notify the court of any evidence they have, or should have, concerning the validity of the juror's responses. Loewy, When Jurors Lie: Differing Standards for New Trials, 22 Am. J.Crim. L. at 744. The question posed here does not meet the specificity requirement. It is not sufficiently clear that Juror B's  and all the other juror's  nonanswer is apparently a dishonest or incorrect answer to the question in the context in which it was asked. On the present record, there is an insufficient basis to find that Juror B incorrectly or dishonestly answered the very vague question posed. Without a sufficient record to indicate that a juror improperly answered a voir dire question, there is no other basis to inquire into the substance of the jury's deliberations. Chesnel's attempt to impeach the jury verdict by suggesting juror misconduct fails.