Court Opinion

ID: 9744898
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:22:14.165984+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:53.197053
License: Public Domain

SULLIVAN, Judge,
concurring in result.
The majority opinion accurately reflects the divergence among and between various panels of this court with respect to a request by a jury, during deliberations, to review evidence or receive clarification. Compare Anglin v. State (1997) Ind.App., 680 N.E.2d 883, trans.denied and State v. Winters (1997) Ind.App., 678 N.E.2d 405 with Johnson v. State (1996) Ind.App., 674 N.E.2d 180, trans. denied, State v. Chandler (1996) Ind.App., 673 N.E.2d 482 and Jones v. State (1995) Ind.App., 656 N.E.2d 303, trans. denied.
The crucial language which should govern our determination may be found in Marsillett v. State (1986) Ind., 495 N.E.2d 699, to the effect that the right of the parties to be present before the court communicates with the jury is triggered by the jury’s request *464“for additional guidance”. Id. at 709. More importantly, in Marsillett, the court did not begin and end its inquiry with a narrow interpretation of the trial court’s duty under 1.C. 34-1-21-6 as does the majority here. The statute is not the sole consideration.
The court in Marsillett clearly and unmistakably said:
“The trial court is imbued with discretion to determine whether the jury should view an exhibit during deliberations”. 495 N.E.2d at 710. (Emphasis supplied).
The court did not restrict the jury to rehearing “testimony” or gaining clarification upon a “point of law” as mentioned in the statute.
Here, as in Anglin, the trial court no doubt assumed that it was precluded from permitting the jurors to view the exhibits in open court. Such assumption was clearly wrong. The jury sought clarification concerning testimony as to the size and nature of the white pantyhose worn by the victim, taken by the defendant and discarded by him near a trash barrel. It is possible that the jury was interested in considering the exhibit in the light of extremely general and remote testimony concerning white pantyhose worn as a part of her work uniform by a woman who lived in the area and who sometimes threw trash in the dumpsters in the alley. The witness did not indicate that she disposed of old pantyhose in that matter and specifically, stated that she did not dispose of such items by throwing them upon the ground in proximity to the area where defendant was apprehended. On the other hand, the jury may have wished merely to review the pantyhose exhibit in light of the victim’s testimony that she wore an extra large size.2 Under the circumstances surrounding the jury request, the trial court had discretion to assist the jurors. Instead of exercising discretion in the matter of the jury’s request for enlightenment, the court erroneously thought it had no discretion to exercise.
When a trial court interrelates with a jury, the overriding consideration should be directed toward assisting the jury to fully and fairly perform its duty in determining the facts and in applying the applicable law. The court should not interpose itself as an impediment to the jury process. The concept of assistance, as opposed to obstruction, is contained within numerous facets of the trial process; e.g., in the admission of relevant evidence which may assist the jury (Lockhart v. State (1993) Ind., 609 N.E.2d 1093; Martin v. State (1994) Ind.App., 636 N.E.2d 1268; Summers v. State (1986) Ind.App., 495 N.E.2d 799) and in the giving of instructions (David v. State (1996) Ind., 669 N.E.2d 390).
Be that as it may, here, as in Anglin, I fail to discern that the failure of the court to permit the jury to view the exhibit or exhibits resulted in clear and irremedial prejudice to the defendant. The aiding or clarifying aspect of the exhibit was minimal at best. Defendant makes no suggestion that the exhibit in evidence did or did not have any size markings, or whether there was or was not a lab test of the pantyhose.
In essence, then, I conclude that the failure of the court to employ its considerable discretion as to whether or not to permit the jury to see the exhibit a second time did not constitute reversible error. For this reason I concur in result.

. Once again, as we noted in Anglin, supra, 680 N.E.2d at 885, n. 2, the indication in Jones v. State, supra, to the effect that a jury is not entitled to view exhibits in any circumstances because the statute is limited to testimony and points of law is overly broad. The discussion in Jones was whether or not the jury was in confusion or disagreement with respect to the testimony concerning the exhibits. It did not discuss whether the jury was precluded by the statute from viewing the exhibits. Although our phrasing in Anglin spoke in terms of whether a request to view exhibits is within the scope of I.C. 34-1-21-6, it more correctly should have couched the question in terms of whether the statute precludes a view of exhibits.