Court Opinion

ID: 9739289
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:11:44.73707+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:11.362707
License: Public Domain

Nolan, J.
(concurring in part and dissenting in part). For all the reasons which I advanced in Commonwealth v. Smith, 403 Mass. 489, 500 (1988) (Nolan, J., dissenting), and in Commonwealth v: Jones, 405 Mass. 661, 663 (1989) (Nolan, J., dissenting), I am again disturbed by the court’s reversal of a judgment of conviction simply because the alternate jurors were present in the jurors’ deliberation room. This defendant is entitled to the' benefits of Smith and Jones, but for the future, we should require a showing of prejudice before reversing a conviction on the ground that the alternate jurors were present during the deliberations of the jury.