Court Opinion

ID: 9819671
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 06:30:21.484465+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:26:54.436577
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE REID, dissenting: I dissent. “An important goal of the criminal justice process is the protection of the innocent accused against an erroneous conviction.” People v. Bull, 185 Ill. 2d 179, 212 (1998). Many would argue it is the goal of the highest priority. People v. Bull, 185 Ill. 2d 179, 212 (1998), citing 1 W LaFave & J. Israel, Criminal Procedure § 1.6(c), at 44 (1984). “The interest in the accuracy of a criminal proceeding that places an individual’s life or liberty at risk is almost uniquely compelling. The many safeguards that the law has developed over the years to diminish the risk of erroneous conviction stand as a testament to this concern.” Bull, 185 Ill. 2d at 212, citing Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 78, 84 L. Ed. 2d 53, 63, 105 S. Ct. 1087, 1093 (1985). “Whatever the number of safeguards in the system, the American criminal justice process is necessarily imperfect because it is operated by people and people are imperfect.” Bull, 185 Ill. 2d at 212. In this case, there is no great conspiracy. In this case, an error was made that resulted in the separation of the ill juror from the rest while deliberations continued unabated. The majority believes that the trial court, once aware that an accidental error had taken place, adequately protected the sanctity of the judicial process by affirmatively polling the remaining jurors to ensure that any practical effect of the error was harmless. Respectfully, I must disagree with that conclusion. The Illinois Constitution of 1970 guarantees the right to trial by jury. Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 13. With certain exceptions, none of which apply here, a trial by jury has been held to be a trial by a jury comprised of 12 jurors. Hartgraves v. Don Cartage Co., 27 Ill. App. 3d 298, 301 (1975). Courts of this state have found that a criminal defendant’s right to a 12-person jury is so fundamental that reviewing courts will invoke the plain error doctrine where appropriate to raise the issue on its own motion. The right to a 12-person jury is an essential feature of a substantial constitutional guarantee. People v. Matthews, 304 Ill. App. 3d 415, 419 (1999). Without consent of the parties, a verdict may not be properly rendered by a jury of any number other than 12. Hartgraves, 27 Ill. App. 3d at 301. In short, the jury system is a process, one worthy of our greatest care and protection. In the case at bar, when the juror took ill, the final vote had not yet been taken and the jury deliberations continued in her absence until two holdouts caved in. That is the error in this case. Steps should have been taken to stop the jury deliberations. No such steps were taken and the deliberations continued unabated while the trial judge, understandably concerned about the welfare of the ill juror, questioned her back in chambers, outside the presence of her fellows, regarding her illness and whether she would be able to return to complete the deliberations. Once notified that the jury, with only 11 of the constitutionally mandated 12 jurors in harness, claimed to have reached a verdict, the trial court expressed its concern about the effect of the separation on the process. The trial court stated: “THE COURT: Yes. The jury indicated they had reached a verdict. In conjunction based on what transpired in my chambers, I think that it would be prudent to bring them out and question them about the chronology of their reaching a verdict and then see what they have together.” Once back before the jury, the trial court explained its understanding of the events that took place while the ill juror was separated from the rest. At that point the trial court participated in the following exchange: “THE COURT: Would you give the verdict forms to the sheriff, please. Mr. Foreman, during the deliberations, one of the jurors, *** who is a member of this jury, knocked on the door and indicated to the sheriff that she wasn’t feeling well. I then had her brought into my chambers with the attorneys. While we were speaking to her, the sheriff informed me that there was a another knock on the door and someone indicating that the jury had reached a verdict, is that correct? THE JURY FOREMAN: That’s right. THE COURT: Was [the ill juror] in the room when the jury reached a unanimous verdict? THE JURY FOREMAN: We have received her at least implicit approval on the verdict. We had unanimously on the first verdict and we were — been working for an hour and a half or two on the second, and we had at least her implicit approval, and there were two other people who had not yet decided on the verdict, but she was not one of those two.” (Emphasis added.) The constitutional rights of a defendant and the province of the jury itself are sacrosanct. The right of trial by jury is a fundamental right in the American judicial system. Ney v. Yellow Cab Co., 2 Ill. 2d 74 (1954). As a fundamental right, like all the others we collectively hold so dear, it is due our most fervent protection. The reason is simple; a citizen’s liberty hangs in the balance. And while it may be inconvenient for the trial court, both in terms of time and resources, to have to give a defendant a second trial, under these facts there would seem to be little alternative. The majority seems to be of the opinion the constitution allows an ill juror to simply ratify the desired verdict ex post facto. I cannot join in this viewpoint. The brilliance of the American jury system, and what makes it both the best system in the world and a shining example to other countries around the globe, is that it pits a predetermined number of ordinary citizens against each other, each armed with the trial court’s instructions and their individual volumes of life experience. What follows, once the door to the jury room is closed, is a process wherein each element comes into play. History has repeatedly shown us that one juror can make a difference, simply by persistence and the strength of his or her beliefs. I simply do not believe we should ever knowingly short circuit the process for purposes of expediency or convenience, not even if the properly constituted jury would have come to the same decision in the end. Here the record is clear; no provisions were made whereby a proper verdict could be rendered by less than the full complement of jurors. It is also equally clear that the ill juror’s gastrointestinal distress occurred after the jury had begun deliberating in earnest, but before a final vote was taken. That is where the process had broken down. It is by the wisdom of the framers of our Constitution that, though we might guess or wish along certain lines, our system makes it impossible for us to say what would have happened in that jury room had this juror not taken ill during the deliberations. Whether she would have concurred in the ultimate verdict is, under these facts and unusual circumstances, largely irrelevant. We should not, since there are constitutional ramifications involved, disregard something as being de minimis simply because the ultimate result might have been the same. The jury process was interfered with in a way that impacts on Thornton’s constitutional rights. As such, I stand alone on my belief that he should be tried again.