Court Opinion

ID: 9611802
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:00:35.688008+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:16.643329
License: Public Domain

ANNABELLE CLINTON Imber, Justice, dissenting. I dissent stice606(b) , the Arkansas Rules of Evidence, which states: (b) Inquiry into Validity of Verdict or Indictment. Upon an inquiry into the validity of a verdict or indictment, a juror may not testify as to any matter or statement occurring during the course of the jury’s deliberations or to the effect of anything upon his or any other juror’s mind or emotions as influencing him to assent to or dissent from the verdict or indictment or concerning his mental processes in connection therewith, nor may his affidavit or evidence of any statement by him concerning a matter about which he would be precluded from testifying be received, but a juror may testify on the questions whether extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jury’s attention or whether any outside influence was improperly brought to bear upon any juror. Ark. R. Evid. 606(b). The majority states that “this situation is not governed by Ark. R. Evid. 606(b) because the jurors were not questioned about matters involving their formal deliberations. Rather, the hearing focused on discussions that occurred prior to formal deliberations.” I disagree wholeheartedly with the majority’s reasoning. Rule 606(b)’s limitations on postverdict juror testimony is not limited to matters that occur during “formal deliberations.” The rule simply states that “a juror may not testify as to any matter or statement occurring during the course of the jury’s deliberations.” Ark. R. Evid. 606(b) (emphasis added). The United States Supreme Court has clearly indicated that the matter inquired into need not occur during formal deliberations in order for Rule 606(b) to apply. Tanner v. United States, 483 U.S. 107 (1987) (interpreting Fed. R. Evid. 606(b), which is virtually identical to the Arkansas rule). In Tanner, as the majority of this court states, “[t]he United States Supreme Court held that it was not error for the district court to refuse to conduct an evidentiary hearing at which jurors would testify about drug and alcohol use during the trial.” (Emphasis added). Therefore, Rule 606(b) prohibits juror testimony regarding internal jury matters that occurred during the trial. The implicit holding of Tanner is that Rule 606(b) reaches misconduct by the jury after impanelment but before it begins formally to deliberate. Christopher B. Mueller, 3 Federal Evidence §§ 248, 252 (2d. Ed. 1994). Specifically, Rule 606(b)’s limitations on juror testimony extend “to proof that jurors discussed the case among themselves before getting final instruction and being dismissed to deliberate.” Christopher B. Mueller, 3 Federal Evidence § 252 (2d. Ed. 1994). At least one federal court has so held. United States v. Cuthel, 903 F.2d 1381 (11th Cir. 1990). There, the Eleventh Circuit held that under Tanner, inquiry into jury “misconduct prior to the deliberations” is barred, and the trial court properly refused to investigate allegations that jurors “considered the merits of the case before they were instructed to begin deliberations.” Id. at 1382, 1383. Thus, the majority erroneously concludes that Rule 606(b) is inapplicable to the present case because the jurors were questioned only about discussions that occurred prior to formal deliberations. Additionally, Rule 606(b) states that a juror may not testify “ to the effect of anything upon his or any other juror’s mind or emotions as influencing him to asset [assent] to or dissent from the verdict or indictment or concerning his mental processes in connection therewith.” Ark. R. Evid. 606(b) (emphasis added). The trial court in this case allowed defense counsel to question the jurors about whether the premature jury deliberations had any affect on their decision as to Mr. Cherry’s guilt or innocence or had any impact on their decision as to sentencing. This is exactly the sort of testimony that Rule 606(b) expressly prohibits. Tosh v. State, 278 Ark. 377, 646 S.W.2d 6 (1983); Lewis v. Pearson, 262 Ark. 350, 556 S.W.2d 661 (1977). We have interpreted Rule 606(b) to allow testimony by jurors in only two instances; that is, when the inquiry involves (1) whether any improper outside influence has been brought to bear upon the jurors or (2) whether any extraneous prejudicial information has been improperly brought to the jury’s attention. Davis v. State, 330 Ark. 501, 956 S.W.2d 163(1997) (“A.R.E. 606(b) only permits inquiry into whether any external influence or information could have played a part in the jury’s verdict.”); Watkins v. Taylor Seed Farms, Inc., 295 Ark. 291, 748 S.W.2d 143 (1988) (“Rule 606(b) ensures that jury deliberations should remain secret, unless it becomes clear that they jury’s verdict was tainted by a showing of extraneous prejudicial information or some improper outside influence.”). Jurors may not testify to matters internal to the jury room. Witherspoon v. State, 322 Ark. 376, 909 S.W.2d 314 (1995) (“We have recognized that the sanctity of jury deliberations is a fundamental precept of our adversary system.”); Watkins v. Taylor Seed Farms, Inc., supra (“this court has shown a reluctance to invade the sanctity of the jury room in order to impeach a jury’s verdict”); Borden v. St. Louis Southwestern Ry. Co., 287 Ark. 316, 698 S.W.2d 795 (1985) (“[Rule 606(b)] provides that an irregularity in the jury room which is an internal occurrence may not be investigated, but that an irregularity due to some external event may be investigated.”). Consequently, it is well recognized by this court that inquiry into matters internal to the jury are prohibited by Rule 606(b), and the rule only allows evidence of external influence or information. It follows, then, that prejudice can only be found when extraneous prejudicial information has been brought to the jury’s attention or when improper outside influence has been brought to bear on the jury. This court has never found prejudice resulting from a matter internal to the jury. The majority is incorrect when it states that extraneous prejudicial information and improper outside influence “are not exclusive types of misconduct that warrant relief.” Indeed, they are the only exceptions provided in Rule 606(b) that warrant postverdict relief. In the present case, none of the jurors’ testimony related to extraneous prejudicial information or improper outside influence. The trial court therefore erred when it found prejudice based upon such testimony. The majority cites two federal cases in support of its conclusion that the premature jury discussions prejudiced Mr. Cherry: United States v. McVeigh, 153 F.3d 1166 (10th Cir. 1998) and United States v. Resko, 3 F.3d 684 (3rd Cir. 1993). While those cases seem to allow juror testimony regarding intrajury misconduct and premature jury discussions despite Rule 606(b), they are clearly inapposite. Rule 606(b) applies only to postverdict testimony by jurors. United States v. McVeigh, supra; United States v. Resko, supra. After all, the reason for the rule is to protect jury verdicts from impeachment. Tanner v. United States, supra; State v. Osborne, 337 Ark. 172 , 988 S.W.2d 485 (1999); Watkins v. Taylor Seed Farms, Inc., supra; Christopher B. Mueller, 3 Federal Evidence § 247 (2d. Ed. 1994). The Supreme Court in Tanner reiterated the substantial policy considerations that support the common-law rule against the admission of jury testimony to impeach a verdict, which is now embodied in Rule 606(b): As early as 1915, this Court explained the necessity of shielding jury deliberations from public scrutiny: “[L]et it once be established that verdicts solemnly made and publicly returned into court can be attacked and set aside on the testimony of those who took part in their publication and all verdicts could be, and many would be, followed by an inquiry in the hope of discovering something which might invalidate the finding. Jurors would be harassed and beset by the defeated party in an effort to secure from them evidence of facts which might establish misconduct sufficient to set aside a verdict. If evidence thus secured could be thus used, the result would be to make what was intended to be a private deliberation, the constant subject of public investigation — to the destruction of all frankness and freedom of discussion and conference.” McDonald v. Pless, 238 U.S., at 267-268, 35 S.Ct., at 784. See also Mattox v. United States, 146 U.S. 140, 13 S.Ct. 50, 36 L.Ed. 917 (1892). The Court’s holdings requiring an evidentiary hearing where extrinsic influence or relationships have tainted the deliberations do not detract from, but rather harmonize with, the weighty government interest in insulating the jury’s deliberative process. There is little doubt that postverdict investigation into juror misconduct would in some instances lead to the invalidation of verdicts reached after irresponsible or improper juror behavior. It is not at all clear, however, that the jury system could survive such efforts to perfect it. Allegations of juror misconduct, incompetency, or inattentiveness, raised for the first time days, weeks, or months after the verdict, seriously disrupt the finality of the process. See, e.g,, Government of Virgin Islands v. Nicholas, supra, at 1081 (one year and eight months after verdict rendered, juror alleged that hearing difficulties affected his understanding of the evidence). Moreover, full and frank discussion in the jury room, jurors’ willingness to return an unpopular verdict, and the community’s trust in a system that relies on the decisions of laypeople would all be undermined by a barrage of postverdict scrutiny of juror conduct. See Note, Public Disclosures of Jury Deliberations, 96 Harv. L. Rev. 886, 888-892 (1983). Tanner v. United States, 483 U.S. at 119-21. In United States v. Resko, the jury misconduct was discovered mid-trial, on the seventh day of a nine-day trial, before the jury had reached a verdict, and the jurors were questioned upon a motion for mistrial prior to a verdict being reached. Thus, Rule 606(b) was inapplicable. United States v. Resko, supra. Likewise, in United States v. McVeigh, the intrajury misconduct was brought to the court’s attention weeks before the jury reached a verdict, and Rule 606(b) was inapplicable. In the instant case, however, the jurors were called to testify at a hearing on a motion for a new trial made several days after the jury had reached a verdict. Unlike Resko and McVeigh, this case involved the impeachment of a jury verdict, and, therefore, Rule 606(b) was applicable. Finally, the majority makes the broad assertion that a criminal defendant will be deprived of his right to a fair and impartial jury if “even one juror” prematurely decides the defendant’s guilt before hearing all the evidence and being instructed on the law. The Supreme Court rejected this assertion in Tanner, when it held that an evidentiary hearing in which jurors would testify about juror alcohol and drug use during trial was not required to protect the defendant’s .right to an impartial and competent jury under the Sixth Amendment. Tanner v. United States, supra. In conclusion, the postverdict testimony by the jurors in the present case related entirely to intrajury matters and was inadmissible under Rule 606(b). There was no evidence of extraneous prejudicial information or improper outside influence. Accordingly, there was no prejudice shown. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent. Glaze and SMITH, JJ., join in this dissent.