Court Opinion

ID: 9713915
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:26:18.386178+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:21.807580
License: Public Domain

SULLIVAN, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s treatment of issues One and Two. The majority cites to the annotation found at 54 A.L.R.2d 738 for the majority and minority rules as to the propriety of supplying a dictionary to the jury. The majority rule never presumes prejudice. Such must be affirmatively shown. The minority position presumes reversible error. In light of Conrad v. Tomlinson (1972) 258 Ind. 115, 279 N.E.2d 546, I believe Indiana follows the position, represented by the majority of cases within the majority rule, which requires judicial awareness of the word or words the jury wishes to define before harmless error can be found. See generally Annot., 54 A.L.R.2d 728 (1957); 49-55 A.L. R.2d Later Case Service (1978 & Supp.1980). Accordingly, I believe reversal of Shultz’s conviction is required.1
Conrad clearly provides that harm will be presumed unless an explanation for the misconduct is offered which demonstrates that no harm or prejudice resulted. 279 N.E.2d at 551. While it is true that our courts have been rather liberal in determining what constitutes an “explanation”, see cases cited in Majority at page 1131, the Conrad *1139presumption of harm absent some sort of elucidation has never been repudiated. The reason for this is clear: without some amplification the alleged impropriety must be viewed in a vacuum, it cannot be placed in context to determine if its ultimate effect was harmless.
Our recent case of City of Indianapolis v. Ervin (2d Dist. 1980) Ind.App., 405 N.E.2d 55, involved an issue similar to that presented here. After acknowledging the Conrad standard of review for alleged irregularities in jury deliberations, id. at 64, (“harm will be presumed until an explanation ... is offered”), we found no prejudice had resulted from communications between the bailiff and the jury. Fundamental to this finding was the fact that the contents of the communications were sufficiently described to allow us to determine that they did not “involve any material issue of the case nor play a role in a decision on the merits of the verdict.” Id. at 65. Basic to the explanation required by Conrad, then, is an inspection of the substance of the communication.
The cases cited by the majority for the general rule that harm will not be presumed from the jury’s acquisition of a dictionary can, for the most part, be reconciled with the Conrad standard of review. In most instances the court was aware of the words the jury wished to have defined, and therefore could make an informed decision as to the propriety of the jury’s request for a dictionary. On review, the request and the use could be viewed in context to determine if the error was harmless. In the vernacular of Conrad the reviewing court had an explanation for the trial court’s action sufficient to determine that no harm or prejudice resulted therefrom. See, e. g., United States v. Gunter (10th Cir. 1976) 546 F.2d 861, 869 (jury requested a definition of “tacitly”); In re Estate of Cory (Iowa 1969) 169 N.W.2d 837 (“undue” and “undue influence” defined); Wilson v. State (Tex.Cr. 1973) 495 S.W.2d 927, 927 (dictionary was used to define “care”, “custody”, and “control”); Rocky Mountain Trucking Co. v. Taylor (1959) 79 Wyo. 461, 335 P.2d 448 (“proximate”, “negligence” along with others defined).
In sharp contrast to the situations related above the trial court here had no idea what word or words the jury intended to define. In response to the bare request for a dictionary one was provided.2 We have no method, outside of speculation, to determine that no prejudice resulted from this act. In short, there is no adequate explanation of the situation from which we could find harmless error. Thus, under the Conrad standard, we must presume that harm resulted.
I would also note with respect to issue Five that the blood sample was taken at the request of a hospital physician and was standard procedure for all emergency room patients. There is no indication that the police were involved in taking Shultz’s blood without his consent. This is, of course, dispositive of the issue since the State and Federal Constitutions provide no protection against purely private action. Zupp v. State (1972) 258 Ind. 625, 283 N.E.2d 540.

. In separating the fact of communication from the fruits, i. e., the dictionary, the majority has failed to apply Conrad to the second issue. This is clearly in error as the jury’s acquisition of the dictionary was an integral part of the alleged improper communication. See Sparks v. State (1st Dist. 1972) Ind.App., 290 N.E.2d 793, 795.

. In this context I cannot agree with the majority’s statement that Anderson v. Taylor (1st Dist. 1972) 154 Ind.App. 217, 289 N.E.2d 781, “seems to recognize that a dictionary could be used by a jury for bona fide purposes and prejudice will not be presumed” (at 1133). The court in Anderson was reviewing for error the trial court’s denial of the jury’s request for a dictionary. The disposition of the alleged error actually supports the position that the jury should proffer some explanation for their request, i. e., should state which words need be defined, before it is even worthy of consideration. Id. at 787.