Court Opinion

ID: 9681442
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:50:30.951377+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:34.011172
License: Public Domain

ARMENDARIZ, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. I would reverse and remand this cause on Appellant’s Ground of Error No. Three where he complains that the jury engaged in an unauthorized experiment or demonstration after retiring to consider their verdict.
In Munoz v. State, 524 S.W.2d 710 (Tex.Crim.App.1975), relied upon by the majority in its decision herein, the Court of Criminal Appeals correctly refused an inquiry into a juror’s mental processes in reaching a verdict on evidence adduced at the trial itself. The appellate court rejected a complaint that the jury foreman wrongfully denied a confused juror a re-reading of a part of the evidence already of record. No issue of newly introduced evidence by the jury is present in Munoz, supra. In the instant case, no evidence was introduced at the trial by either side touching on the specific time that it would take to sight a rifle scope at night under the circumstances and conditions testified to by the witnesses during the trial of the case. The majority opinion admits that the issue was significant on a vital element in Appellant’s defensive theory. Indeed it was. Juror Harris stated that she rejected the self-defense claim on the basis of available retreat, a conclusion which she reached by relying on *131the “minute or so” assertion made by Foreman Spruiell derived from the complained of experiment or demonstration.
Not all experiments or demonstrations engaged in by a jury cause a reversal situation. However, where introduction of a new fact or facts is shown, any influence that the newly introduced fact might have had on the juror or jurors is a proper element of inquiry. More important, the Appellant must affirmatively show that the jury was in fact influenced by the introduction of the alleged new evidence, or that the juror or jury did not rely on their own judgment in determining the issue, if he is to prevail in his protest. See: Smith v. State, 152 Tex.Cr.C. 399, 214 S.W.2d 471 (1948). To that extent, an inquiry into the mental process of the jury as affected by such new evidence, if any, is not only proper, but necessary.
In the instant case, Foreman Spruiell’s comment as to the length of time required to sight a rifle, under the circumstances reproduced by him and the others in the experiment or demonstration in the jury room, added a fact not of record to the matter on a vital and controversial issue in this case. Compare: Douthit v. State, 482 S.W.2d 155 (Tex.Crim.App.1972), cited in the majority opinion, where the Court of Criminal Appeals held that there was no showing that a new fact, hurtful to defendant, was discovered by the experiment and influenced the jury. In the instant case, Foreman Spruiell’s testimony influenced at least one juror adversely to Appellant’s position. See: Smith, supra. Even though this juror may have misunderstood the intention and the meaning of the factual assertion on the part of the jury foreman, it is clear that she relied on the express results of the experiment or demonstration in reaching her decision and did not rely on her own judgment on the issue of self-defense. Foreman Spruiell acted as a witness in this case and gave testimony on a controverted issue. See: Smith v. State, 218 S.W.2d 851 (Tex.Crim.App.1949). This resulted in an unfair trial for Appellant.
I would reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand the cause for a new trial.