 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
People v. Steele5/30/2002
the evidence received at trial. "Jurors' views of the evidence . . . are necessarily informed by their life experiences, including their education and professional work. A juror, however, should not discuss an opinion explicitly based on specialized information obtained from outside sources. Such injection of external information in the form of a juror's own claim to expertise or specialized knowledge of a matter at issue is misconduct. [Citations.]" (In re Malone (1996) 12 Cal.4th 935, 963 (Malone), italics added.)
In Malone, supra, 12 Cal.4th 935, 963-965, we determined that a juror committed misconduct when she indicated to other jurors that her professional reading and course work caused her to doubt the accuracy rates claimed by the examiners who conducted the petitioner's polygraph examination. Furthermore, this juror indicated that the polygraph results were not reliable because of the manner in which a particular question had been phrased by the examiner. Because the juror expressed negative opinions regarding the reliability of the petitioner's polygraph evidence - based upon her own professional study of psychology and not upon the evidence received at trial - we held in Malone that her statements to the other jurors constituted misconduct. Our decision further held, however, that the People successfully had rebutted the presumption of prejudice arising from the misconduct, by showing that the externally derived information imparted to other jurors was substantially the same as evidence and argument presented to the jury at trial.
Here, we are presented with declarations indicating that two jurors with medical experience explicitly relied upon that experience in stating, during deliberations, that a medical test administered to defendant was unreliable, and that the data upon which the defense experts had relied in assessing the results of the test were inadequate. This information was not based upon evidence presented at trial, but rather upon the jurors' own experience in the medical field. The statements of these jurors, as described in the declarations supporting defendant's motion for new trial, are substantially similar to the statements that we held constituted misconduct in Malone.
With regard to the alleged statements of the jurors who had military experience, their assertions during deliberations that defendant could not have experienced combat and that defendant did not learn how to kill in military school contradicted the testimony of defense witness Meshad. These statements, like the statements of the jurors with medical experience, were based explicitly upon the professional experience of these particular jurors and not upon any evidence received at trial.
The majority acknowledges the rule set forth in Malone, supra, 12 Cal.4th 935, but concludes that the juror declarations described above presented no evidence of misconduct. The majority states: " xtensive evidence was produced concerning the nature and extent of defendant's military training and Vietnam experience and its effect, if any, on his crimes, as well as evidence concerning the validity of BEAM testing. This evidence was susceptible of various interpretations. The views of the jurors allegedly asserted here were not contrary to, but came within the range of, permissible interpretations of that evidence. All the jurors, including those with relevant personal background, were entitled to consider this evidence and express opinions regarding it." (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 37, italics added.)
As established above, however, the statements of the jurors did not constitute interpretations of evidence at trial, but rather contradicted evidence at trial. The statements of the jurors
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 California DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|