Court Opinion

ID: 9695289
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 18:14:42.569563+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:10.675609
License: Public Domain

ANDERSON, PAUL H. Justice
(concurring in part and dissenting in part).
I concur in part and respectfully dissent in part. I agree with the majority that any error in allowing the jury to review the recorded witness statements that had been admitted into evidence was harmless. I also agree the procedural error in how the jury was permitted to review the evidence in the presence of an employee of the county attorney was not structural error and that this error can be reviewed under the plain error doctrine. But, I do not agree with the majority that on the information before us, we can conclude that there was no plain error. Further, while I agree with many of the concerns expressed by Justice Meyer in her dissent, I do not agree that on the record before us, we must grant a reversal. Rather, I would remand to the district court for a Schwartz hearing in order to create a proper record of any communications that may have occurred between the jury and the employee of the county attorney’s office who played the recordings for the jury. Schwartz v. Minneapolis Suburban Bus Co., 258 Minn. 325, 328, 104 N.W.2d 301, 303 (1960). I conclude that such a record is necessary for us to determine whether we can affirm Everson’s conviction or whether we must reverse and remand for a new trial.