Court Opinion

ID: 9790563
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 01:55:00.696239+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:30.228042
License: Public Domain

VOLLACK, Justice,
dissenting:
The majority reverses the court of appeals’ ruling that the trial court committed harmless error in failing to obtain the presence of counsel before replying to a jury question during deliberations. I respectfully dissent.
I disagree with the majority’s analysis of the issue in this case. The majority writes:
The issue in this case is not the adequacy of the original instructions given, but rather the jury’s demonstrated misunderstanding of those instructions.
Majority op. at 1255. I believe the issue is whether there was error contained in the answer which the judge gave to the jury, and whether the court's action prejudiced the rights of the defendant. Phillips v. People, 170 Colo. 520, 462 P.2d 594 (1969); Accord, ABA Standards for Criminal Justice, Standard 15-4.3(a)(i) (2d ed. 1982). The majority opinion sets forth an unsupported test as to when a jury should be referred back to the original instructions. The majority opinion states:
A jury should be referred back to instructions only when it is apparent that the jury has overlooked some portion of the instructions or when the instructions clearly answer the jury’s inquiry.
Majority op. at 1255 (emphasis added). I do not believe this to be the applicable test. As I view the issue, the appropriate standard for determining when the jury, after retiring for deliberation, desires to be informed on any point of law is whether or not the court’s response correctly states the applicable law, and whether or not it is in any way prejudicial to the defendant. Phillips, 170 Colo, at 532, 462 P.2d at 600; Kath v. Brodie, 132 Colo. 338, 287 P.2d 957 (1955); Accord, State v. Benford, 129 Ariz. 447, 631 P. 2d 1105 (App.1981).
Because the court’s response was that the jury reread the instructions, the response clearly did not misstate the law. The original instructions were in conformity with Colorado law. The instructions in question had been reviewed by counsel and approved prior to original submission to the jury.
The majority states that “frjeferring the jury back to the same instruction that created the doubt in their minds could serve no useful purpose.” Majority op. at 1255. I disagree. The ABA Standards for Criminal Justice, Standard 15-4.3(a)(i) (2d ed. 1982), provides:
[T]he jury may be adequately informed by directing their attention to some portion of the original instructions.
The trial court’s response to the jury question in applying the ABA Standard did not prejudice the defendant and resolved the question for the jury.
Clearly, the court erred in not informing counsel of the inquiry and in not conducting a hearing on the inquiry out of the presence of the jury. However, the majori*1259ty opinion’s conclusion that because the jury made inquiry into the applicable mental state, it could not apply its findings of fact to the appropriate law, when told not to go beyond the original instructions which contained easily definable words of common knowledge, is speculative. The phrase, “having a suspicion of,” is not contained in the original instructions. Therefore, it is probable that after the judge informed the jury to reread the instructions which did not contain the words of their inquiry, the jury applied the basic, commonly understood meaning of the words in question. The presumption is that the jury understood and heeded the trial court’s instructions. People v. Moody, 676 P.2d 691 (Colo.1984).
Here, the jury’s inquiry indicated that it was straining to supply content to the words “believing” and “knowing.” The court acted properly in informing the jury to refer back to “the words as you find them in the instructions.” Both the words, “knowing” and “believing,” are basic, commonly understood words, and we have rejected a vagueness challenge to those very words. People v. Holloway, 193 Colo. 450, 568 P.2d 29 (1977). It has been held that an instruction using those words, without further definition, suffices. People v. Griffie, 44 Colo.App. 46, 610 P.2d 1079 (1980). Prospective jurors are disqualified if they are unable to understand the English language. § 13-71-109(2)(b), 6 C.R.S. (1973 & 1986 Supp.); see People v. Rodriquez, 638 P.2d 802 (Colo.App.1981). To argue that the jury misunderstood simple English words in the instructions is, in effect, no more than to untimely attack the jurors’ qualifications, see section 13-71-109, or to impermissibly attack the mental process by which the verdict was reached. Santilli v. Pueblo, 184 Colo. 432, 521 P.2d 170 (1974); see also C.R.E. 606(b). Therefore, the defendant has failed to show any prejudice as a result of the court’s action.
That the defense and the People were not given a chance to review whether the jury’s inquiry was incorrect procedure. However, because the defendant failed to establish that the trial court gave an erroneous statement of the law or that the actions of the trial court prejudiced the defendant’s rights, there was no reversible error. People v. Thomas, 181 Colo. 317, 509 P.2d 592 (1973); People v. Martinez, 42 Colo.App. 307, 600 P.2d 82 (1979).
I would affirm the court of appeals.
I am authorized to state that Justice ROVIRA joins in this dissent.