Court Opinion

ID: 9464345
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 23:31:11.174406+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:35.118973
License: Public Domain

WINTER, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent.
I have serious doubt that United States v. Welch, 496 F.2d 861 (4 Cir. 1974), aff’g per curiam, 377 F.Supp. 367 (D.S.C.1973); and United States v. Beach, 296 F.2d 153 (4 Cir. 1961), can properly be declared inapplicable to the instant case on the ground that they were decided on the basis of our supervisory powers over district courts. In Welch, we justified the result by citing Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967), thus implying constitutional grounds for our decision. Moreover, even if these two cases are deemed inappo-site, we have held elsewhere that jury misconduct in a state criminal proceeding can rise to the level of a denial of due process of law if it results in substantial prejudice to the defendant. Downey v. Peyton, 451 F.2d 236 (4 Cir. 1971). See also Parker v. Gladden, 385 U.S. 363, 87 S.Ct. 468, 17 L.Ed.2d 420 (1966); Turner v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 466, 85 S.Ct. 546, 13 L.Ed.2d 424 (1964); Irwin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1960). Miller’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus specifically alleges misconduct by the jury constituting a “[violation of due process of law”; he does not confine his claim to one of a violation of the sixth amendment, as the majority suggests.
I am persuaded that Miller has alleged facts sufficient to show that the jury experiment was both improper and sufficiently prejudicial to constitute a denial of due process of law. The only material issue of fact at Miller’s trial was whether or not he was the rapist. As the majority notes, all of the evidence linking him to the crime was circumstantial. The most significant circumstantial evidence was a bruise on Miller’s arm which the prosecution claimed was sustained in the course of the rape. Miller testified that this bruise was the result of a collision with a chain link fence suffered the same evening as the rape. *882Photographs of the bruise, taken shortly after filler's arrest, were admitted into evidence. Expert testimony to the effect that the bruise in the photographs was a product of a human bite was also received. If Miller’s allegations are true, it is apparent that neither the photographs themselves nor the expert testimony persuaded the jury of Miller’s guilt. If such evidence had been persuasive, it is unlikely that the foreman of the jury would have submitted to such a bizarre and painful experiment. Only after observing the bruise on the foreman’s arm did the jury return a guilty verdict. It is also significant that Miller’s first trial, one which was free of jury misconduct of the sort alleged in the second trial, ended as a mistrial for reason that the jury was unable to reach a verdict. In short, I think that Miller has alleged on actionable violation of due process.
I would remand this case to the district court with instructions to hold an evidentia-ry hearing in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). If the court finds that the experiment occurred under the circumstances that Miller alleges, the writ of habeas corpus should issue.