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People v. Thornton8/16/2002
o the dissent's characterization, the ill juror did not "simply ratify the verdict ex post facto" Slip op. at 27. The evidence in the record conclusively proves that the ill juror did concur in both guilty verdicts and her ratification of the verdict during the process of the polling of the jury was no different than that provided by the other 11 jurors. As to our treating this matter as being de minimis, this court allowed oral argument in this case and, in this extremely lengthy opinion, we cite nine Illinois Appellate Court cases, four Illinois Supreme Court cases, one case from another state, one federal district court case and a legal treatise in our discussion of this single issue.
In People v. McDonald, 168 Ill. 2d 420 (1995), our supreme court discussed how important it is to poll jurors.
"The purpose of polling a jury is to determine that a verdict accurately reflects each juror's vote as reached during deliberations and that the votes were not the result of force or coercion. (People v. Cabrera (1987), 116 Ill. 2d 474, 490; Williams, 97 Ill. 2d at 307.) When polling a jury, a trial court must not hinder a juror's expression of dissent. (Cabrera, 116 Ill. 2d at 490; Williams, 97 Ill. 2d at 307.) If a juror indicates some hesitancy or ambivalence in an answer, then the trial judge must determine the juror's present intent by affording the juror the opportunity to make an unambiguous reply as to the juror's present state of mind. (People v. Kellogg (1979), 77 Ill. 2d 524, 528.) The trial judge, in determining whether a juror has freely assented to the verdict, hears the response and additionally observes the juror's demeanor and tone of voice during the course of polling the jury. (Cabrera, 116 Ill. 2d at 490.) A trial court's determination regarding a juror's voluntariness of his assent to the verdict will not be set aside unless the trial court's conclusion is clearly unreasonable. Cabrera, 116 Ill. 2d at 490." People v. McDonald, 168 Ill. 2d at 462-63.
Also, see People v. Lee, 303 Ill. App. 3d 356, 366 (1999), finding that the record did not support defendant's argument that a trial court's failure to respond to two notes from the jury indicating it was deadlocked coerced a verdict. Lee cited People v. Chandler, 110 A.D. 2d 970, 487 N.Y.S.2d 887 (1985), which held that because the defendant had objected to the trial court's absence during deliberations, the court was able to poll the jury to determine whether the verdict was tainted.
In the instant case, when the court was advised that a juror was ill, the court acted appropriately in notifying the attorneys for both parties and then conducting an in camera interview with the juror. In retrospect, the court should have advised the jurors to stop deliberating until the juror rejoined them after her interview. However, the record from the polling of the jurors indicates that this error was not prejudicial to this defendant in the way he suggests in his argument on appeal, nor is there any other basis upon which to find prejudice. Consequently, we find that while the trial court should have instructed the jury to cease deliberation in the absence of the ill juror, the absence of such an instruction did not prejudice defendant and we therefore reject his first argument on appeal.
Constitutional Issue
Defendant next argues that his convictions must be reversed where he was not present when the trial court, the State and defendant's trial counsel interviewed the juror in camera. In support of this argument, defendant cites the well-established principle that a criminal defendant has a constitutional right to a public trial and to appear in person and by counsel at all proceedings that inv
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