Court Opinion

ID: 9488463
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 12:46:19.664235+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:52:54.594415
License: Public Domain

SHABAZ, District Judge,
dissenting.
A criminal defendant is entitled to a new trial only when there is a reasonable possibility that the jury’s exposure to material not properly in evidence prejudiced it against the defendant. United States v. Sababu, 891 F.2d 1308, 1333 (7th Cir.1989). The majority remands to the district court because it concludes that the record is ambiguous concerning the trial court’s determination whether the transcript had a prejudicial effect upon the defendant. Because there is no ambiguity in the record and no reasonable possibility that the defendant was prejudiced by the presence of the transcript in the jury room, I dissent.
The record is clear that the district judge believed that the presence of the transcript in the jury room prejudiced the government by delaying the defendant’s conviction.
And what I have decided to do here is that I believe that the extraneous matter, being the transcription, that there was a reasonable possibility that the jury was influenced by way in their deliberations, and that with that finding, the Court is going to grant a new trial.
But I’m not sure I’m doing the defendant any favors, Mr. Berry, and this is one of reasons I want you here, because I have been around long enough to know, as Mr. Friederieh knows and as Ms. Littleton will find out as she tries cases, in re-trial of cases, more likely than not, the second jury comes back with the same decision as the first jury. And we’re here, and your attorney is possessed with the knowledge that this jury, without the transcription back there, would have returned a guilty verdict on you on the count they found you guilty within 15 minutes ...
There is nothing in the transcript to suggest any finding of prejudice to the defendant— only the suggestion that the jury was influenced in its deliberations. We know from his comments that the judge believed this influence to be a benefit to the defendant.
The trial court’s ruling also demonstrates the impropriety of a remand. In two separate statements at the hearing on the motion for new trial the judge expressed his concern that it was impossible for him to disregard evidence received outside the bounds of Rule 606(b), Federal Rules of Evidence:
When I questioned the jury and reading the cases on whether or not that was proper, I’m trying to erase that from my mind and not consider it, but we all heard or at least Mr. Friederieh and Ms. Littleton and I heard back in the jury room after the jury was discharged what, you know, the effect that this document had. And I can not erase from my mind the fact that that document, extraneous as it was, had a reasonable possibility of influencing the jury in this case.
And I’m not considering the voir dire of the jury that was done outside the presence of the defendant, but this was a tran*311script that was back there, and I want the Seventh Circuit to know, since they’re going to be reading this, it is after the jury was discharged the three of us went back there and talked to the jury. And it’s very difficult to set aside comments they made with the realities with what we have to do in terms of — the difficulty of striking evidence and telling jurors to erase things from their minds. It’s difficult to do.
Recognizing this problem, this Court has previously noted the futility of a remand under circumstances where the trial judge has erroneously been exposed to evidence of the jury’s deliberative process.
So there was error; what is to be done? One possibility would be to remand for a further hearing before the judge. But that would be futile because it would be unrealistic to expect him to erase the impression that the jurors answers made on him ...
Haugh v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp., 949 F.2d 914, 919 (7th Cir.1991). The futility is even greater where the judge stated, “I don’t think I could explain what I’ve explained here today in writing as well as I could have explained it verbally and orally.” There is nothing more to say.
The proper course under such circumstances is an independent judgment concerning possible prejudice by this Court. Id. Clearly, such an independent review reveals that there is no prejudice. The jury already had the transcript during trial and at the time of the playing of the tape. To the extent that the identification of speakers on the transcript influenced the jury that influence already occurred at trial. Furthermore, the jury was instructed that the transcript was not evidence but only the government’s interpretation of what was contained on the tape. A more painstaking comparison in the jury room between tape and transcript could only benefit the defendant since it would likely expose discrepancies in the transcript which call into question the credibility of the government’s transcriber and witness. Indeed, there was testimony on the record that such discrepancies were uncovered by the jury. Insofar as the transcript was accurate it is merely cumulative of the tape and can not be prejudicial.
It is important to note that whether the transcript was properly used at trial is not before us on the present appeal. Assuming the propriety of providing the transcript to the jury during trial there is simply no reasonable possibility that its presence in the jury room prejudiced the defendant. The trial court’s order granting a new trial should be reversed. Defendant is plainly not entitled to a new trial and a remand is an exercise in futility. Accordingly, I dissent.