Court Opinion

ID: 9754286
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 19:53:46.734206+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:51.606334
License: Public Domain

Justice WALLACE,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. In my view, the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in the manner he polled the jury.
Rule 1:8-10 provides that the jury “shall be polled at the request of any party,” and “[i]f the poll discloses that there is not unanimous concurrence ..., the jury may be directed to retire for further deliberations or discharged.” As this Court has explained, “[a] poll ensures that each juror express concurrence or disagreement with the verdict, allows jurors to dissent from the announced verdict, and protects against coercive deliberations.” Ragusa v. Lau, 119 N.J. 276, 279, 575 A.2d 8 (1990). The poll requires each juror to answer for himself or herself. The response informs the court whether there is any uncertainty in the verdict announced. State v. Cleveland, 6 N.J. 316, 322, 78 A.2d 560 (1951).
*444Rule 1:8-10 does not provide for any particular procedure in polling the jury. Further, the response of each juror need not be in any “formal or literal style, provided only that it be unmistakable in meaning.” State v. Vaszorich, 13 N.J. 99, 127, 98 A.2d 299, cert. denied, 346 U.S. 900, 74 S.Ct. 219, 98 L.Ed. 400 (1953). If it appeal’s that the juror’s answer is not responsive or demonstrates confusion, then the trial court should seek clarification. See State v. Schmelz, 17 N.J. 227, 233, 111 A.2d 50 (1955). If a juror expresses disagreement with the verdict as stated by the foreperson, the trial court may direct the juror to continue to deliberate or may discharge the jury. R. 1:8-10. “[I]f it clearly appears that the juror concurs in the verdict any evasive statement or explanation volunteered by [the juror] is to be disregarded.” Schmelz, supra, 17 N.J. at 233, 111 A.2d 50.
In Schmelz, the clerk instructed each juror to respond “yes” or “no” when asked individually whether he or she agreed with the guilty verdict announced by the foreperson. Id. at 232, 111 A.2d 50. During the course of the poll, one of the jurors asked if he could ask a question or whether he simply had to answer “yes” or “no.” Ibid. The trial court informed the juror that he had to answer the clerk’s question, to which the juror said “yes,” indicating his agreement with the verdict. Ibid. Defense counsel objected, and the court asked the juror whether he had hoped to offer “some explanation” about his finding of the verdict. Ibid. The juror responded, “I would call it so.” Ibid. Then, without providing the juror a chance to give an explanation, the court directed the clerk to record the juror’s answer as “yes” and allowed the poll to proceed. Ibid. After all the other jurors responded affirmatively, the verdict was recorded and entered against the defendant. Ibid.
On appeal, the Court rejected defendant’s claim that the trial court should have permitted further interrogation of the subject juror in an effort to determine whether the juror actually concurred in the verdict. The Court emphasized that once the trial court had determined “that the particular juror in question had *445concurred in the general verdict, the purpose of the poll had been fulfilled and there was no reason for the court to examine him further.” Id. at 236, 111 A.2d 50. The Court provided the following caveat when a trial court finds a juror who appears to respond negatively to the poll:
If, however, on the poll it had appeared that as a result of the juror’s response in the negative to the question propounded by the clerk the trial court was in doubt whether the juror actually had concurred in the verdict announced by the foreman, the court might have interrogated the juror further in an effort to determine what his vote on the verdict really was. As a result of such interrogation the trial court might have exercised its sound judgment in determining what steps were then to be taken that is, whether the verdict should be recorded because it appeared that actually the juror did concur in it, or whether because of a lack of concurrence the jury should be discharged or returned for further deliberations, R.R. 3:7-9(d) [now R. 1.8-10]. Such questioning is in effect a pail; of the poll and is to be conducted by the court alone and solely for the limited purpose herein stated____
[Id. at 236-37, 111 A.2d 50 (citations omitted).]
Here, in considering defendant’s asserted error, we are aided by the videotape of the proceedings. Thus, in addition to the transcript, we have observed and heard the questions of the trial court and the responses of the juror to the extent the responses were audible and able to be recorded.
The videotape demonstrates that after defendant requested a poll of the jury, the trial court instructed the clerk to poll the jurors on each of the three counts. Each juror responded “guilty” when polled on Count One, possession of a controlled dangerous substance (CDS). On Count Two, possession of CDS with the intent to distribute, when juror number 8 was polled she asked the court if it wanted the truth. The court answered in the affirmative and stated that it needed to confirm that the verdict was unanimous. After some hesitation and the court’s explanation that an answer is required, juror number 8 responded, “Um, guilty. That was the verdict that I gave.”
In my view, the trial court fairly sought to clarify the juror’s response to determine whether she agreed with the verdict. The videotape amply demonstrates that the trial court was extremely patient and, in an even-toned voice, expressed to the juror the need to respond to the poll. The trial court did not coerce or *446intimidate the juror for her response, but fairly and politely encouraged the juror to answer whether her vote was not guilty or guilty. Although it would have been preferable for the trial court to follow up and ask if that was also the juror’s present verdict1, the failure to do so was harmless. The juror clearly stated that her verdict was guilty. Thereafter, in the polling of Count Three, possession of CDS with intent to distribute near public housing, each juror clearly responded “guilty.”
After the polling of the jury, defense counsel requested the trial court make further inquiry of juror number 8 because counsel believed the juror initially had responded “not guilty” to the poll on Count Two. The trial court replied that he never heard the juror say “not guilty” and that the juror eventually had said “guilty.” Defense counsel replied, “okay.”
I find no error in the trial court’s treatment of defense counsel’s request. Even if juror number 8 replied “not guilty” in an unclear fashion, it was incumbent upon the trial court to have the juror clarify any ambiguity in her response. That is precisely what the trial court did.
For those same reasons, the disputed testimony at the hearing on the new trial motion concerning whether juror number 8 was heard to respond “not guilty” in the initial inquiry does not justify a different result. It is obvious that if the trial court never heard the juror say “not guilty,” there was no basis to grant defense counsel’s request to interview the juror.
Although the trial court did not expressly make findings of fact on the new trial motion, the basis for its holding is evident from the court’s restatement on the record of the content of the videotape recording. Consequently, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the unusual request to interview juror number 8.
*447In short, the trial court carefully addressed the juror’s failure to give a direct response and waited patiently for the juror to respond to the poll. It is undisputed that after some delay the juror indicated she had voted “guilty” on Count Two. That is enough.
I would affirm the judgment of the Appellate Division.
Chief Justice PORITZ and Justice YERNIERO join in this opinion.
For reversal and remandment — Justices LONG, LaVECCHIA, ZAZZALI and ALBIN — 4.
For affirmance — Chief Justice PORITZ and Justices VERNIERO and WALLACE — 3.

 The trial court asked the question in the past tense “Was your verdict not guilty or guilty."