be good law after the “restyled” Rules take effect on December 1, 2011. Previous Rules Language (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 that or any other juror’s mind or emotions as influencing the juror to assent to or dissent from the verdict or indictment or concerning the juror’s mental processes in connection therewith. But a juror may testify about (1) whether extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jury’s attention, (2) whether any outside influence was improperly brought to bear upon any juror, or (3) whether there was a mistake in entering the verdict onto the verdict form. A juror’s affidavit or evidence of any statement by the juror may not be received on a matter about which the juror would be precluded from testifying. Restyled Rules Language (b)During an Inquiry into the Validity of a Verdict or Indictment. (1) Prohibited Testimony or Other Evidence. During an inquiry into the validity of a verdict or indictment, a juror may not testify about any statement made or incident that occurred during the jury’s deliberations; the effect of anything on that juror’s or another juror’s vote; or any juror’s mental processes concerning the verdict or indictment. The court may not receive a juror’s affidavit or evidence of a juror’s statement on these matters. (2) Exceptions. A juror may testify about whether: (A) extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jury’s attention; (B) an outside influence was improperly brought to bear on any
Hypothetical 9: A plaintiff seeks $50,000 in damages from a defendant, and the defendant counterclaims for $50,000 in damages. The jury's verdict form appears to award the plaintiff $20,000 in damages and the defendant $30,000 in damages (e.g., $10,000 to the defendant). After the verdict is entered, jurors come forward and claim that the $20,000 in damages listed for the plaintiff was the net amount that they intended to award it, and the $30,000 allegedly awarded to the defendant was intended to be the amount deducted from the $50,000 sought by the plaintiff to reach the total final billing of $20,000. Will the juror affidavits be admissible to “correct” the verdict? Cf. , (N.C.App. 2010) 2010 WL 2367110; Colin Miller, . EvidenceProf Blog, June 16, 2010, VII. Situations Where Rule 606(b) Does Not Apply A. Testimony by Nonjurors As the text of and Justice O’Connor’s opinion in Tanner make clear, Rule 606(b) only governs testimony by jurors. Therefore, if a nonjuror observes jury misconduct, she can impeach the jury’s verdict. For example, in Tanner, Justice O’Connor cited to the Fourth Circuit’s opinion in , 558 F.2d 724 (4th Cir. 1977), in which a judge sent a Marshal to accompany jurors to a private club to deliberate and the Marshal was allowed to impeach their verdict through testimony regarding their consumption of alcoholic beverages during deliberations. Hypothetical 10: Robert Lamb is convicted of the murder of his sister. After Lamb was convicted, he brought a motion for a new trial based upon the following facts: The trial judge, who had a scheduling conflict, left the jury in another judge's charge on its second day of deliberations. Thereafter, the foreman told the bailiff he had a note for the judge. The bailiff saw the note, which asked about the difference between first- and second-degree