Court Opinion

ID: 9711961
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:42:59.298817+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:08.721076
License: Public Domain

HUNTER, Justice, dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent from the majority opinion. I do agree that it is not appropriate to hold a Lindsey inquiry after a verdict has been given. However, I do not agree with the standard set out by the majority that the defendant must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the jury actually saw or heard the extraneous material before this Court can assume the verdict might have been tainted. The constitutional guarantee to a fair trial demands a reversal in any case where the accused has proved that there is a substantial likelihood the jury was improperly exposed to prejudicial, extrinsic material during their deliberations. The Seventh Circuit has expressed this standard in the following manner. "And it is sufficient to require a reversal if, in our judgment, the error might have operated to the substantial injury of the defendant." United States v. Grady, (7th Cir.1950) 185 F.2d 273, 275. (emphasis added).
In this case, there is more than a substantial liklihood that the magazine was in the jury room during at least part of the jury deliberations since the bailiff's affidavit established that he found it in the jury room at approximately 8:30 a.m., when the jury had only been discharged eight hours earlier at 12:30 a.m. that same morning. It was unequivocally established that the magazine was highly prejudicial, extrinsic material. While it is true that the magazine might not have been seen by any member of the jury, it could have been used effectively to persuade jurors otherwise opposed to conviction to agree to a guilty verdict. This is especially true in a case such as this where the evidence was conflicting, the credibility of the prosecuting witnesses was not good, and the jury reported being deadlocked two times. In circumstances such as these, where the extrinsic evidence is patently prejudicial a new trial ig required. Expressio eorum quae tacite insunt nihil operatur.
The judgment of the trial court should be reversed and defendant should be granted a new trial.