Court Opinion

ID: 9751477
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 16:30:02.213838+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:25:30.848578
License: Public Domain

BELL, C.J.,
dissenting.
The majority holds that, notwithstanding its presence in the trial court file with other notes concededly received, and answered, by the court, a jury note, reporting the jury’s progress and asking for the court’s “suggestion as to how to proceed,” is not a communication received by the court within the meaning of Maryland Rule 4-326. It reasons that the note was not marked as an exhibit, Black v. State, op. at 343, 44 A.3d at 371 (2012), the judge did not recall receiving or being apprised of the communication, and the judge stated that he did not have reason to believe that such a communication occurred. Id. By so holding and reasoning, the majority places a burden and a responsibility on a defendant that the Rule does not. Under the Rule, a defendant has to establish affirmatively that he or she was not advised, or made aware, of a jury communication pertaining to the action, received by the court. As evidenced by the note being in the court file, the appellant did just that. A defendant does not, and should not, have the further burden of proving how, why, or at what point the court file came to contain a note that, the State alleges, was not received, under circumstances requiring compliance with the Rule, by the very entity, the court, to whom the responsibility for receipt and communication, to the parties, of such a note has been assigned and, in pursuance, at least in part, of which it assembled the file. I dissent.
*347I.
Critical to the resolution of this appeal is Maryland Rule 4-326(d). It provided, at the time of the petitioner’s trial:
“The court shall notify the defendant and the State’s Attorney of the receipt of any communication from the jury pertaining to the action as promptly as practicable and in any event before responding to the communication. All such communications between the court and the jury shall be on the record in open court or shall be in writing and filed in the action. The clerk of the court shall note on a written communication the date and time it was received from the jury.”
The Rule is clear: it does not place any burden on the defendant, or the State, for that matter, to receive juror communications or to convey them to or on behalf of the court. The reason that it does not is also clear: neither the defendant nor the State is charged with superintendence or oversight of the jury and neither has control of, or responsibility for, the court file. See Md. Rule 8-413.1 Because it has charge of both the jury and the court file, the Rule understandably and clearly assigns to the court responsibility for receiving communications from the jury and conveying them to the parties. The Rule also recognizes, expressly, that it is the court’s responsibility, acting through its clerk, to date and note the time when juror communications are received.
*348It is undisputed that the court file contained an envelope,2 in which there were four notes from the jury, all signed by the same juror, Elizabeth L., juror # 1, pertaining to the action. There is no dispute as to three of these notes; it is conceded by the appellant and the State that they were received by the court, their receipt and the contents communicated to the parties and answered, in writing, by the trial court.3 Each of *349these notes also was time stamped. Although in the court file, the fourth jury note was neither date nor time stamped, its receipt had not been communicated to the parties4 and it had not been answered, clearly not a written response. That note, referred to hereinafter as “Note 4,” read:
*350“We agree on 2 out of 5, but have not come to an agreement on the other 3 ... do you have any suggestions on how to proceed? Elizabeth L[_] juror # 1.”
On its face, it “pertain[s] to the action.” There are two critical issues, when was it received by the court and who has the burden of proof on that issue? If it was during the jury deliberations, there was a clear violation of Rule 4-326(d).
II.
A defendant’s right to be present at every stage of trial, including when there are communications between a jury and the court that pertain to the action, “is deemed ‘absolute,’ and a judgment of conviction ordinarily cannot be upheld if the record discloses a violation of the right.” Perez v. State, 420 Md. 57, 63-64, 21 A.3d 1048, 1052 (2011) (quoting Porter v. State, 289 Md. 349, 352-53, 424 A.2d 371, 374 (1981)). We explained in Denicolis v. State, 378 Md. 646, 656-57, 837 A.2d 944, 950-51 (2003):
“In Midgett v. State, 216 Md. 26, 36-37, 139 A.2d 209, 214 (1958), we held that an accused in a criminal prosecution has the absolute right to be present at every stage of trial from the time the jury is impaneled until it reaches a verdict or is discharged, and that includes the right to be present ‘when there shall be any communication whatsoever between the court and the jury[,] unless the record affirmatively shows that such communications were not prejudicial or had no tendency to influence the verdict of the jury.’ We have often confirmed that fundamental principle. See Stewart v. State, 334 Md. 213, 224-25, 638 A.2d 754, 759 (1994) (‘Any communication pertaining to the action between the jury and the trial judge during the course of the jury’s deliberations is a stage of the trial entitling the defendant to be present.’); Bunch v. State, 281 Md. 680, 685, 381 A.2d 1142, 1144 (1978); Taylor v. State, 352 Md. 338, 345, 722 A.2d 65, 68 (1998); Winder v. State, 362 Md. 275, 322, 765 A.2d 97, 122-23 (2001); Miles v. State, 365 Md. 488, 543, 781 A.2d 787, 819 (2001). In Stewart, we added that this right is absolute and that ‘a judgment of conviction ordinarily can*351not be upheld if the record discloses a violation of the right.’ Stewart v. State, 334 Md. at 225, 638 A.2d at 759. The kinds of communication that may be regarded as nonprejudicial, as noted in Midgett, are those that clearly do not pertain to the action or to a juror’s qualification to continue serving and that are of a purely personal nature. See Graham v. State, 325 Md. 398, 415, 601 A.2d 131, 139 (1992).”
The majority, like the Court of Special Appeals, holds that the trial court did not commit reversible error because, in failing to show that the court was in “receipt” of Note 4, the petitioner failed to establish the triggering event for his Rule 4-326 rights to apply. Black, op. at 337-38, 341-42, 44 A.3d at 367-68, 370. It concludes:
“It is clear from a close reading of Denicolis that the majority, in that case, was persuaded that the jury note was received by the trial court not only because it appeared in the court record, but because it was marked as a court exhibit. Thus, there was a reasonable inference for the majority to make in Denicolis that a member of the court staff had received the jury note, and subsequently marked that note as a court exhibit, thereby triggering the mandates of Rule 4-326(d) .. . The trial judge’s attestation, “I was not in receipt of, nor was [I] made aware of, note ‘Number 4[,]’ ” distinguishes the present case from Denicolis and supports our conclusion that the jury note was not received.”
Id. at 343, 44 A.3d at 371.
I disagree, as I believe the petitioner has shown all that he can — the presence of the note in the court’s file with the several other notes pertaining to the action, that were acted on. Such evidence affirmatively established that the note was received by the court. The affidavits which state that neither the trial judge nor counsel recalled receiving the note serve to establish that the note’s receipt was never communicated to the petitioner. As this Court made clear in Denicolis, 378 Md. at 658, 837 A.2d at 951, failure to inform the petitioner and his attorney about a communication received from the jury, “alone *352constitutes error.” The burden then shifts, I submit, to the State to prove how the note came to be in the court’s file and why its receipt was not communicated to the petitioner. Certainly, it is not the petitioner’s burden to explain either of those occurrences.
The majority distinguishes the instant case and Denicolis, based on the jury note in Denicolis having been marked as an exhibit, while here, it was not. That is an incorrect analysis.5 To be sure, the jury note in Denicolis was marked as an exhibit as were the other three jury notes in that case. 378 Md. at 653-54, 837 A.2d at 948-49. That is not the reason that the Court determined that it had been received, however. It is true that the Court referred to the note being marked as an exhibit, but we also relied on the fact that the note “appeared in the record.” Id. at 658, 837 A.2d at 951. In fact, it was this latter rationale that we offered first, stating “It is clear that a communication from the jury was received, for it appears in the record and is labeled as a court exhibit.” Id. (emphasis added).6 This is important because, if the sole or the dispositive reason for our concluding that the jury note had been received was that it had been marked as an exhibit, we did not have to mention its appearance in the record; being marked as an exhibit surely would have sufficed. Being *353marked as an exhibit necessarily means that it is, “appears,” in the record. As significant, we mentioned two, not one reason for our conclusion, it was in the record and it was marked as an exhibit. That a jury note is marked as an exhibit is not an insignificant consideration when determining whether that note has been received; it certainly makes the argument in favor of receipt stronger. That is not the only way to prove receipt and it is not the only indicia supporting it. As we made clear in Denicolis, appearance in the record is evidence of receipt.
This Court, in Denicolis, did not say, expressly or by implication, that, to show that a jury note was received, for purposes of Rule 4-326, by the court, a defendant must establish, as a prerequisite, that it was marked as an exhibit or, in some other way, have received the imprimatur of the court, via the clerk or the judge. Nevertheless, the majority, characterizing it as a “reasonable inference,” interprets Denicolis as mandating a showing by the defendant of something more, perhaps that it was marked as an exhibit, than an unexplained appearance of a jury question in the record. It is wrong. Any fact beyond its appearance in the record is not the sine qua non to the establishment of receipt, and therefore error; it is merely another factor, building on the appearance factor, making the petitioner’s argument that the note was received, though never acted upon, more convincing.
The majority also makes much of the “presumption of regularity or correctness” that the petitioner must overcome with a “sufficient factual record” proving error. Black, op. at 337-38, 44 A.3d at 367-68. While I agree that the presumption of regularity does have bearing on this case, I posit both that the petitioner has rebutted this presumption and that the presumption should cut in the petitioner’s favor. With regard to the latter, all notes from jurors, whether pertaining to the action, or not, were contained in an envelope in the court file. We must presume that every note in the file was “received” by the court in the ordinary course. In rebuttal, we are asked to speculate that one note, the one neither date nor time stamped, was not received in the ordinary course or even from *354the juror who signed it. The basis for that speculation is that it is neither date nor time stamped and because the other notes are, we are asked to conclude that, it necessarily follows, as to that note, that the presumption of regularity or correctness does not apply. The problem with this argument is that the irregularity in treatment of the one note does not prove that the others were handled in the regular course; rather, it undermines the presumption altogether. The court file is prepared by a lower court clerk, and subsequently, he or she prepares the appellate record. Md. Rule 8-413(c). What is clear from this record is that, at some point, the note in question was placed in the court file, we must assume by the clerk, and thus received. There is nothing about Note 4 that would indicate that it was not received in the ordinary course. There is certainly no objective basis for saying when it was received or that its inquiry was satisfied or abandoned. For all the record, unembellished by speculation, reveals, it may have been tendered to the clerk, but then overlooked or mistaken as a personal note or it, as the State and the majority speculate, may have come into the court file after the case was over, upon a later sweep of the jury room, and placed in the file, unnoticed. To vindicate the presumption, it must be shown that the unanswered note was indeed the outlier, that it was not received in the ordinary course and came into the file under circumstances not requiring compliance with Rule 4-326(d). It is not enough simply to say that the presumption applies. The petitioner should not be given the burden to refute and negate the pure speculation as to when, why and how a note from a person over whom he has no charge, came to be in the court file, a file over which he has no oversight.
A similar, though not identical, argument was made, and rejected, in Denicolis, 378 Md. at 657, 837 A.2d at 951. Responding to the State’s argument “that it is the appellant’s duty to preserve a record from which the error he/she claims may be documented[,]” id., the Court was clear:
“It is true that a trial court’s actions and decisions are generally presumed to be correct and that it is the appellant’s burden to produce a record sufficient to show other*355wise. See Mora v. State, 355 Md. 639, 650, 735 A.2d 1122, 1128 (1999) (‘It is incumbent upon the appellant claiming error to produce a sufficient factual record for the appellate court to determine whether error was committed.’). See also Bradley v. Hazard Technology Co., 340 Md. 202, 206, 665 A.2d 1050, 1052 (1995); State v. Chaney, 375 Md. 168, 184, 825 A.2d 452, 461 (2003). That assumes, of course, the ability of the appellant to produce such a record, which ordinarily is the case. Here, petitioner’s ability to establish the circumstances under which the note in question was received and what, if any, reaction there was to it was hampered by the fact that neither he nor his attorney were informed about the note until after the verdict was returned, the jury was discharged, and sentence was imposed. No better record than the one that exists could be made under such a circumstance, at least for purposes of a direct appeal. Nonetheless, the record is more than sufficient to establish non-harmless error.”
378 Md. at 657-58, 837 A.2d at 951.
The majority further distinguishes this case from Denicolis, because here, unlike in Denicolis, the Judge made an affirmative statement that he did not receive the note. The Court of Special Appeals, in Fields v. State, 172 Md.App. 496, 916 A.2d 357 (2007), addressed this precise point, concluding that this factor does not, and should not, negate the fact that the clerk, at some point, gathered the note into the court file and thus received it, whether or not the clerk then passed it on to the judge or overlooked it. In Fields, the facts were as follows:
“The official record contain[ed] a note, not reflected in the transcripts, apparently from juror number seven, marked as ‘Court’s Exhibit # 4.’ The juror note ask[ed] the following questions: ‘Where [sic] there different kinds of shell casing or How many different gun [sic] were used during the shooting.’ The note further asks ‘Was the same gun use to shoot all [of] the victims.’ ”
Id. at 512, 916 A.2d at 366.
The appellants, noting inter alia, the failure to apprise them of the communications and therefore their lack of opportunity *356to be present and hear “what, if any, response the Court gave to the jury to address this note,” id., argued that the court erred and that the error was reversible. Id. Although the trial judge, the State and the defense had no recollection of the note, id. at 513, 916 A.2d at 366, the trial judge nevertheless opined that he would have instructed the jury to “decide the case on the evidence” and “[t]here is no chance [the court] would have simply ignored the note if [it] knew about it.” He also said that he suspected “that [the note] may have been dealt with in the midst of other cases and that portion of the proceeding was not transcribed.” Id. at 513, 916 A.2d at 366.
The Court of Special Appeals held:
“The unclear and inexplicable circumstances surrounding the pedigree and disposition of State’s Exhibit # 4 present different potential deprivations of appellants’ rights. We cannot know whether appellants were denied the right to be present at a time — clearly a critical stage of the proceedings — that the court considered and responded to the jury note. We are further not aided by the affidavits submitted by counsel indicating that they have no recollection of the existence of — or response to — the note, or by the court’s affidavit indicating that it would have routinely advised the jury that it should rely on its recollection of the evidence and that the disposition of the note may have been transcribed during another court proceeding.
^ * *
‘We hold that the failure to afford appellants the opportunity to be present when or if the court disposed of the note in the case at hand constituted error under Denicolis. But, in this case, where we cannot know whether the court acted at what would have undisputedly been a ‘critical stage,’ the mere failure of the jury to receive a response to its communication denied appellants’ rights. Stated otherwise, even if Denicolis were arguably not implicated, an equally significant right is denied.”
Id. at 515-16, 916 A.2d at 368 (emphasis added).
I agree with the Court of Special Appeals that the petitioner meets his burden of proving error when he or she shows that *357a jury communication, clearly intended to, but does not, reach the court, has been collected and “appears” in the court file by the court. The burden then shifts to the State to show the error was harmless, or, to negate the petitioner’s original proof.
A judge’s statement that he cannot recall receiving the note does not negate, nor should it, the other evidence of receipt, especially when, as here, it is quite likely that the judge, for whatever reason never did receive the note. It is well to remember in this regard that the Rule refers to the “court,” not the judge. While the judge may be the personification of the “court,” “court” is broader, referring to all personnel and actors, who collectively perform judicial functions and effect judicial proceedings. The judge is not entitled to an inference or presumption that he or she acted consistently with the Rule, and without error, simply because he or she does not receive or fails to recall ever receiving, a note that is nevertheless shown to be, and, therefore, appears, in the court file. To hold otherwise would be to absolve the court for the errors of its staff even when they result in a violation of a defendant’s rights. It would avoid accountability for the errors of that staff. The court has oversight of its staff and, therefore, is answerable for the actions of those who act on its behalf. When the only evidence is that a note is in the file, along with all the other notes clearly received from the jurors, the petitioner has met his burden of showing that the note was received by the court. When it also shows, as the evidence does here, that the defendant was not notified of the note, he establishes error.
As noted by the majority, the note here “pertained to the action,” as required by Rule 4-326(d), and addressed an important aspect of the case. Jury deliberations spanned seven hours. Three other notes were submitted, indicating that the jury was unclear as to the definition of crucial terms, such as “fellatio,” and unclear as to what exactly was the testimony of the key witness, Kayla, the victim of the alleged abuse. The note at issue solicited “suggestions” as to how to proceed in the face of a potential deadlocked jury. Such a *358communication would have been highly relevant to the petitioner and therefore did not amount to harmless error.
I dissent.

. Maryland Rule 8-413 states, in relevant part:
"(c) Duties of lower court clerk. The clerk shall prepare and attach to the beginning of the record a cover page, a complete table of contents, and the certified copy of the docket entries in the lower court. The original papers shall be fastened together in one or more binders and numbered consecutively, except that the pages of a transcript of testimony need not be renumbered. The clerk shall also prepare and transmit with the record a statement of the cost of preparing and certifying the record, the costs taxed against each party prior to the transmission of the record, and the cost of all transcripts and of copies, if any, of the transcripts for each of the parties. The clerk shall serve a copy of the docket entries on each party.”

. The majority makes mention of the eleven juror notes, not pertaining to the action, that also are contained in the court file in the same envelope. Black v. State, op. at 333-34 n. 1, 44 A.3d at 365 n. 1 (2012). Those notes, appropriately characterized as personal notes concerning contact information and requests from individual jurors, and exemplified by the note from Juror # 4: "Pam W[_] ... Still at courthouse. Will be home late.,” and its presumed response: “# 4 Left a voice-mail,” were neither dated nor time-stamped. They are relevant to this case because they confirm that all notes from jurors of whatever nature and whether pertaining to the case or not, were received by the court and placed in the file.

. These notes, with the exception of a fifth note, consisting of a small strip of paper with the word "Guilty,” and nothing else written on it, were written in a nearly identical manner as the note at issue. As indicated, they all were signed by the same juror. The first was marked as received at 8:18 p.m. and reads: "We would like to reconvene in the morning and could we have more copies of the jury instructions. Elisabeth L[_] juror # 1.” The answer written on the note is: “Here are more copies of the instructions. Please continue deliberating.” The second note was marked as received at 9:55 p.m. and reads: "In relation to the charge of fellatio, did Kayla testify that her mouth touched the defendant’s penis. Elisabeth L[_] juror # 1.” The answer written is: “You must rely on your own memory of the testimony.” The third note was marked as received at 11:40 p.m. and reads: "For the definition of fellatio we need some clarification, does there only have to be contact or does there have to be penetration? Same question applies to cunnilingus. Elisabeth L[_] juror # 1.” The answer written on the note indicates that the relevant jury instruction was mistakenly omitted and was subsequently sent into the jury.
The fourth Note, the note at issue in this case, as indicated, was in the same envelope as the eleven personal notes and the three companion notes that pertained to the case. Because it was not timed in, we do not know where it fits chronologically. It is also the only one to which, unlike the others, no presumption of receipt has been accorded. It seems to me that, since Note 4 was written and signed by the same juror as wrote and signed the other three notes and was filed in the same envelope as, and appears in the record with, the other notes pertaining to the case that were "received,” there is a reasonable and strong inference that Note 4 was received by the court just like the *349other notes. If it was not, this was through no fault of the petitioner and under circumstances that he could not and should not be required to explain.

. In preparation for appeal, the petitioner obtained the affidavits of the presiding judge and of the assistant state’s attorney and the assistant public defender, who tried the case. Counsel both acknowledged being apprised of, and participating with regard to, the three answered notes that were in the case file, but indicated that they had not seen the unanswered note before it was sent to them by the petitioner’s counsel. In his affidavit, the trial judge stated:
"When a jury note was passed to me by the bailiff I would write on the note the date and time that I received the note. I then would have my law clerk find counsel and bring them to my office. I would discuss the note with counsel and ask for their recommendations. I would inform counsel of what my answer to the jury was going to be and then invite counsel to place any objections on the records at that time. I would then write my answer on the note and have the note returned to the jury.”
Concerning the note in question, he offered:
"I have no recollection of any communication that occurred between myself and the jury, nor do I have any reason to believe that there was any communication between myself and the jury as to note 'Number 4’... I was not in receipt of, nor was made aware of note 'Number 4.’ ”
The petitioner, as I have explained, has no burden to explain when, how or why Note 4 came to be in the court file or the circumstances surrounding the court’s failure to notify the parties of its receipt. Nevertheless, to buttress his case, he obtained affidavits of certain of the key and most obvious actors in the case, the trial judge, the State and the defense counsel. Those affidavits established what he had to establish, no more and no less: that the note was in the court file and that neither he nor the State had been notified that it was. It is inappropriate and unfair to fault the petitioner, as the majority does, Black, op. at 344-45, 44 A.3d at 372, for not getting affidavits from the court clerks, bailiffs or other court personnel, who may have been charged with the oversight of the juiy. That simply shifts to the petitioner a burden he does not have, while allowing the court to avoid its responsibilities and the State to benefit from a presumption of regularity, which relieves it of any burden to rebut the petitioner's showing.

. None of the jury notes pertaining to this case was marked as an exhibit. Apart from the fact that they were in the court file, the only formal indication that they had been received by the court was the noting of the date and time on the written note. According to the trial judge's affidavit, that notation would have been made by him. Following the majority’s reasoning to its logical conclusion, the appellant could have shown that the note was received only by showing that it was date and time stamped by the court.

. We followed the same pattern when we set out the facts underlying the case:
“The third note asked for a definition of solicitation. That is the note at issue here. Although the note is in the record and is labeled Court Exhibit 4, the record reveals no mention of or response to it. It is not time-stamped, and apparently counsel were unaware of it until after the verdict had been taken, sentence had been imposed, and appellate counsel, while reviewing the record for purposes of appeal, discovered it in the record.”
Denicolis, 378 Md. at 653-54, 837 A.2d at 949 (emphasis added).