Court Opinion

ID: 9473273
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:24:49.028599+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:43:25.467175
License: Public Domain

FERGUSON, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
The majority dismisses the violation of defendant Miller’s constitutional right to be present at the juror disqualification hearing as harmless error. In doing so the majority glosses over the facts material to Miller’s claim. In my opinion, the Constitution simply will not countenance the practice of excluding a defendant from an in camera examination of a juror’s competence after the jury has begun deliberations and has announced that it is deadlocked. Accordingly, I dissent.
After ten long weeks of trial, the jury began its deliberations. After three days of deliberations, the jury revealed to the court that it had yet to arrive at a verdict. This announcement occurred on a Thursday *997afternoon and threatened to disturb the schedules of both the trial judge and defense counsel. Mr. Scherotter, defense counsel for petitioner Miller, informed his client that he had previously scheduled a vacation trip out of the country, leaving on Saturday.
When asked by counsel Scherotter for his consent to this vacation, Miller expressed reluctance to release his counsel at this critical juncture in the lengthy trial. On Friday, while the jury resumed its deliberations, Scherotter handed Miller a note stating that, in contrast to their previously negotiated fee arrangements, if Miller persisted in refusing to consent to counsel’s departure, he would no longer represent the defendant after the jury returned its verdict. Faced with these terms, the defendant relented. At the end of the day on Friday, the jury again returned without a verdict. The jury foreman informed the court that the jury was hopelessly deadlocked and would “never” be able to return a verdict.
The court nonetheless ordered the jury to return in the morning and resume deliberations. This would be the first and only Saturday session during the lengthy trial. After the jury was dismissed for the day on Friday, the trial judge indicated that he wanted to finish the trial by the following Wednesday so that he could keep a scheduled appointment at a hospital. Informed of defense counsel’s intention to leave the area, the court inquired whether defendant Miller consented to this procedure. Miller said that he reluctantly agreed.
On the following morning, substitute counsel for defendant Miller, Mr. Mandanich, a junior associate of Mr. Scherotter, appeared to represent Mr. Miller for the first time. Upon his arrival, Mr. Mandanich was summoned to the judge’s chambers for a discussion of some unanticipated juror problems. The husband of one of the jurors, Mrs. Koch, had telephoned the court to explain that his wife was sick and could not report that day. He also stated that his wife was well enough to return to jury duty on Sunday, the following day. In addition, another juror, Mr. Lance, had reported to the bailiff that he had noticed the smell of alcohol on the breath of juror Johnston. The bailiff apparently assured juror Lance that Mr. Johnston could be removed from the jury.
Defendant Miller’s substitute counsel, Mr. Mandanich, was asked to discuss the juror problems with the trial court and the prosecutor in the in camera session. The trial court apparently appreciated the difficulties that Mr. Mandanich, unfamiliar with the details of this protracted case, would have in offering an informed opinion on the matter. Accordingly, the trial court asked Mr. Mandanich what Miller’s former counsel, Mr. Scherotter, would do if he had remained in the case. Mr. Mandanich responded that he did not know what Mr. Scherotter would do if confronted with these juror problems. Despite his uncertainty, Mr. Mandanich agreed to waive any claim of error if Mr. Johnston were to remain on the jury. Despite this waiver, the court decided to remove Mr. Johnston as well as Mrs. Koch from the jury. Neither the court nor Mr. Mandanich obtained the consent, waiver, or approval of Miller as to the dismissal or substitution of these two jurors.
During this in camera session, defendant Miller twice relayed a request to the trial court to permit his attendance. Both of these requests, one oral and written, were denied by the trial judge. At this in camera session, the trial court took evidence on the question of the removal of juror Johnston. The jury foreman testified that Mr. Johnston had dozed off during one day of testimony but that this had not affected Mr. Johnston’s participation in the deliberations; the foreman expressed confidence in juror Johnston’s ability to continue deliberations. He also stated that he had not noticed the odor of alcohol on Mr. Johnston’s breath at any time. The bailiff testified that Mr. Johnston’s breath did smell of alcohol and that Mr. Johnston had been belligerent toward Mr. Lance, the complaining juror.
*998Mr. Johnston testified on his own behalf. Mr. Johnston vigorously denied that he had been drinking alcohol during his duties but admitted to having had three drinks on Thursday evening. Mr. Johnston also explained that he had lost sleep over the case. He stated that his inability to sleep one evening was the reason for his dozing during one day of testimony in the two-month trial. Several other jurors had apparently slept through portions of the long trial.
After hearing all the evidence in camera, the trial court decided to remove Mrs. Koch and Mr. Johnston from the jury. The judge did not offer any explanation for his actions other than stating that Mr. Johnston was removed for “misconduct.” Counsel for defendants Miller and Freeman entered their objections. Two alternates were sworn in and the jury was instructed to begin its deliberations anew. When the new jury retired to resume deliberations, defendant Miller asked the court why he was not permitted to attend the disqualification hearing. The judge responded that he did not think the defendant’s presence would have aided the proceedings in any way.
Defendant Miller challenges the trial court’s denial of his request to personally attend the inquiry into the status of the two jurors. The majority summarily dismisses his constitutional claim by noting the presence of Mr. Mandanich in the hearing and assuming that the trial court would have refused to permit Miller to testify in this in camera hearing. The majority then engages in the sheer speculation that defense counsel were permitted to consult with their clients during the course of this inquiry. Finally, the majority takes refuge in the familiar domain of harmless error. I cannot so readily dismiss the petitioner’s constitutional claims and, at a minimum, I would remand to the district court for an evidentiary hearing as to whether the constitutional violation was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967).
The constitutional stature of a defendant’s right to be present at all stages in the criminal proceedings is not subject to debate. The' source of this right can be traced to the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments and the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. United States v. Gagnon, — U.S. —, -, 105 S.Ct. 1482, 1483-84, 84 L.Ed.2d 486 (1985). Labeled a “postulate of justice” by the Supreme Court in Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97, 115, 54 S.Ct. 330, 335, 78 L.Ed. 674 (1934), every defendant has “a right to be present at all stages of the trial where his absence might frustrate the fairness of the proceedings.” Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 819 n. 15, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 2533 n. 15, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975). The right to be present at “every stage of-> his trial” is “[o]ne of the most basic rights guaranteed by the Confrontation Clause.” Illinois v. Allen, 397 U.S. 337, 338, 90 S.Ct. 1057, 1058, 25 L.Ed.2d 353 (1970). The Supreme Court has also “recognized that this right is protected by the Due Process Clause in some situations where the defendant is not actually confronting witnesses or evidence against him.” United States v. Gagnon, 105 S.Ct. at 1483-84.
Although it is true that a defendant can lose this right “by consent or at times even by misconduct,” Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U-S. at 106, 54 S.Ct. at 332, there has been no contention that Miller waived his right explicitly or by misconduct. Instead, the trial court rejected Miller’s assertion of his constitutional right solely because it doubted the utility of the defendant's presence in the context of an inquiry into the membership of a deadlocked jury.
It is clear that the commencement of jury deliberations is a vital stage in a defendant’s trial. The substitution of alternate jurors after the jury has twice informed the court that it cannot reach a verdict is a matter of critical moment to a defendant. This hardly qualifies as a “minor occurrence,” Gagnon, 105 S.Ct. at 1483-84, in the lifespan of a criminal trial.
As we have previously stated:
*999[S]uch a procedure significantly limits the accused’s right to a mistrial if the original jury cannot reach agreement. A lone juror who would not in good conscience vote for conviction could be under great pressure to feign illness or other incapacity so as to place the burden of decision on an alternate juror.
United States v. Lamb, 529 F.2d 1153, 1156 (9th Cir.1975) (en banc) (footnote omitted). It should not surprise anyone to learn that the escalating pressures exerted upon jurors to reach a verdict during a week of deliberation often result in hostility and rancor among the members of the jury. This is a price our legal system must gladly pay in exchange for the moral certainty that adheres to the jury’s verdict. Cf. In re Winskip, 397 U.S. 358, 364, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 1072, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970) (“It is also important in our free society that every individual going about his ordinary affairs have confidence that his government cannot adjudge him guilty of a criminal offense without convincing a proper factfinder of his guilt with utmost certainty.”) (emphasis added). “Whether analyzed as a fifth, sixth, or fourteenth amendment question, a fundamental concern in a ease such as this is protecting the deliberative process of the jury. A just result of a trial cannot be reached if there is an inappropriate interference with or intrusion upon the deliberative process.” Peek v. Kemp, 746 F.2d 672, 680 (11th Cir.1984).
A jury that has struggled to arrive at a fair and just verdict for five days should not lightly be reconstituted for reasons of judicial convenience or juror comfort. “There can be no doubt that fundamental due process, and the right to a fair and impartial jury, entitles a defendant in a criminal case to be tried by the jury originally selected to determine his guilt or innocence,” subject only to a few well-defined exceptions. Peek v. Kemp, 746 F.2d 672, 679 (11th Cir.1984). Due process is no less offended when a court dismisses a juror after the jury announces it is deadlocked without making a reliable determination on the capacity of the current jurors to proceed. Id. at 681. On the record before us, no one can determine whether the juror disqualification decision was valid or merely a means to eliminate a deadlocked jury. More importantly, however, this inquiry, vital to the integrity of the deliberative process, was conducted in the absence of the defendant.
Of course, I recognize that the defendant’s presence is not required in those situations where his presence would be useless, or the benefit but a shadow. The utility of the defendant’s presence, however, cannot be measured by reference to the court’s or counsel’s convenience. Were this the only criterion, defendants would invariably be tried in absentia. Rather, the utility of the defendant’s presence stems from his right to defend his liberty throughout the factfinding process. As the Supreme Court has instructed: “Personal liberties are not rooted in the law of averages. The right to defend is personal. The defendant, and not his lawyer or the State, will bear the personal consequences of a conviction.” Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 834, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 2540, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975). Viewed in the abstract or considered within the specific context of the facts of this case, I cannot say that the defendant’s presence during the in camera examination of a deadlocked jury would have been useless or the benefits chimerical.
Even in Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97, 106, 54 S.Ct. 330, 332, 78 L.Ed. 674 (1934), the Supreme Court recognized that the defendant’s presence would be useful during the examination of jurors. As an abstract proposition, therefore, the “defense may be made easier if the accused is permitted to be present at the examination of jurors ... for it will be in his power, if present, to give advice or suggestion or even to supersede his lawyers altogether and conduct the trial himself.” Id. at 106, 54 S.Ct. at 332. Similarly, I have no difficulty in assuming that the defendant’s presence may be of value to the defense effort whenever a court examines the membership of a deadlocked jury for possible disqualification and substitution. I can see no reason to distinguish the need for the *1000defendant’s presence at this inquiry from the need to be present at the trial itself.
The facts of this case, however, do not require this court to make an abstract evaluation of the contours of a defendant’s right to be present during an examination of a deadlocked jury. Defendant Miller, not Mr. Mandanich, was the person equipped with the personal knowledge garnered over the lengthy trial sufficient to make an informed representation by the defense regarding the demeanor of juror Johnston. Instead of asking Mr. Miller, the trial court was left to asking Mr. Mandanich what the defendant’s former counsel would have done if he had been confronted with the juror qualification question. Mr. Mandanich forthrightly told the court what it should have already known: he did not know what Mr. Scherotter would do in the situation. In these circumstances, it cannot be said that the defendant’s presence would have been a gratuitous addition to the proceedings.
The fundamental demands of due process will frequently prove to be an inconvenience to trial courts and to trial counsel. Our Founding Fathers rejected efficiency as the polestar for our nation’s criminal justice system. Instead, “due process” is the hallmark we have inherited and must preserve for criminal trials. Due process demands that the defendant not be relegated to the role of an unnecessary bystander to a critical point in his criminal trial. In conclusion, I would remand this case to the district court for an evidentiary hearing limited to the question of whether the violation of defendant Miller’s right to due process was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, I dissent.