Court Opinion

ID: 9678383
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:18:18.785799+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:04.022374
License: Public Domain

MEYERS, Judge,
dissenting.
The issue of whether juror note-taking is a permissible practice in criminal trials in Texas was, until today, unanswered by this Court. The majority answers this question not by looking to our procedural rules, but rather to the holdings of our sister states which reflect a “general trend of approval of juror note-taking.” The majority notes that some state courts which reject the common law prohibition to note-taking by jurors do so because of legislative acts which expressly allow juror note-taking during criminal trials,1 and that the remaining states which now allow the practice do so by engaging in some sort of a balancing test, weighing the “inherent risks” of allowing note-taking with the benefits.2 While exploring the differing theories for allowing the practice is interesting, it sheds little light on the propriety of juror note-taking in Texas.
Article 1.27 of the Code of Criminal Procedure expressly states that where the Code “fails to provide a rule of procedure in any particular state of ease which may arise, the rules of the common law shall be applied and govern.” Tex.Code Crim.Pro. Article 1.27. Unlike some of the jurisdictions cited in the majority opinion, Texas does not have a statute sanctioning note-taking by jurors in criminal cases. Consequently, where the common law has spoken on the issue, this Court is not to engage in balancing tests or draft new procedural rules as some of our sister states have done, but rather, is bound by that common law declaration. Id. On the issue of juror note-taking, the common law is quite clear. The common law rule prohibits the practice of note-taking by jurors, particularly where the jury retains the notes during deliberations. Wharton’s Criminal Procedure, Vol. Ill, §§ 1767, 1780 (1918); Zoline’s Federal Criminal Law and Procedure, Vol. Ill, § 450a (1921); Thompson on Trials, Vol. II, § 2585 (1889).
Because juror note-taking not sanctioned by statute, is disallowed under the common law, and because the Code of Criminal Procedure dictates that the common law governs in cases where the Code is silent, the practice may not be sanctioned by this Court. See Tex.Code Crim.Pro. Article 1.27. Whether or not juror note-taking is a sound practice and should be allowed in Texas is another question, and is a matter which is best left to the legislature. I believe that for this Court’s purpose the Code of Criminal Procedure and the common law are sufficiently clear to reach the conclusion that the practice of jury note-taking is prohibited in Texas. I therefore respectfully dissent.
CLINTON, J., joins.

. Price v. State, 887 S.W.2d 949, 953 and footnotes 5 and 6 (Tex.Crim.App.1994); see also Hollins v. State, 571 S.W.2d 873, 878-879, n. 5 (Tex.Crim.App.1978).

. See Price v. State, 887 S.W.2d 949, 951-953 (Tex.Crim.App.1994) and cases cited therein.