Court Opinion

ID: 9746002
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 13:49:11.84459+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:07.342358
License: Public Domain

HOLLENHORST, Acting P. J., Concurring.
I concur in the result.
Penal Code section 11471 required that the jury be discharged when only 11 jurors appeared to deliver the verdict. The presence of each of the jurors during the declaration of the verdict in open court is a minimal requirement essential to ensure a unanimous jury verdict. (Chipman v. Superior Court (1982) 131 Cal.App.3d 263, 266 [182 Cal.Rptr. 123].) Thus, no valid verdict could be delivered in the absence of Juror No. 4, and his or her absence was structural error requiring reversal. (See People v. Cahill (1993) 5 Cal.4th 478, 501-502 [20 Cal.Rptr.2d 582, 853 P.2d 1037].) “[I]n some instances [errors] may result in a ‘miscarriage of justice’ . . . without regard to the strength of *506the evidence presented at trial . . . because they operate to deny a criminal defendant the constitutionally required ‘orderly legal procedure’ . . . .” (Ibid.)
As the court stated in People v. Loving (1977) 67 Cal.App.3d Supp. 12, 16 [136 Cal.Rptr. 851], “Absent strict compliance with article I, section 16 of the Constitution, it is not only irregular and uncommon to proceed with 11 jurors, it is reversible error to proceed with 11 jurors. [Citation.]” The presence of Juror No. 4 was essential to the reliability of the verdict, and without his presence, the verdict cannot stand. (See People v. Thornton (1984) 155 Cal.App.3d 845, 859-860 [202 Cal.Rptr. 448] [if the jury merely returns a written verdict but fails to unanimously endorse the verdict in open court, the verdict cannot normally be sustained solely on the basis of the written form].)

 “When the jury have agreed upon their verdict, they must be conducted into court by the officer having them in charge. Their names must then be called, and if all do not appear, the rest must be discharged without giving a verdict. In that case the action may be again tried.” (Pen. Code, § 1147.)