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State v. Mann6/6/2000
rts, when faced with the issue of extraneous material being presented to the jury, have consistently held that once extraneous material is brought before the jury, there is a presumption that the material prejudiced the complaining party, and unless the presumption is rebutted, the complaining party is entitled to a new trial. See Smoketree-Lake Murray, Ltd., 286 Cal. Rptr. at 447. ("In reviewing the denial of a motion for new trial based on jury misconduct, the appellate court has a constitutional obligation to review the entire record, including the evidence, and to determine independently whether the act of misconduct, if it occurred, prevented the complaining party from having a fair trial." (Internal quotation marks omitted)).
Because extraneous information was presented, the burden shifted to the State to rebut the presumption of prejudice. See Sacoman, 107 N.M. at 591, 762 P.2d at 253. Additionally, when the factors set forth in our own case of Doe, 101 N.M. at 366, 683 P.2d at 48, and by the California courts in Martinez and Castro are considered, the presumption of prejudice is great. The evidence (1) was presented before the jury reached a decision on the intentional child abuse and second-degree- murder charge; (2) contradicted Defendant's case, due to a great extent on Juror No. 7's thirty-minute discourse involving a five-step process, based entirely on the premise that he did not "think they answered the right question;" and (3) was before the jury for a substantial period of time. The fact that there might be " onvincing evidence of guilt does not deprive a defendant of the right to a fair trial." Martinez, 147 Cal. Rptr. at 220.
The trial court interviewed only five of the twelve jurors. Four jurors testified that the information presented by Juror No. 7 was not the determinative factor or even a significant factor in their decision. Juror No. 7 testified that the information he presented was only one of many factors that influenced his decision. Seven of the jurors, however, were not interviewed by the trial court. For this reason, there is no way of knowing whether those seven jurors were in any way influenced by the extraneous material. I believe this fact raises "a reasonable possibility of prejudice." Pierce, 109 N.M. at 605-06, 788 P.2d at 361-62 (Ransom, J., specially concurring).
It was the State's burden to show that Defendant was not prejudiced by the extraneous material, not Defendant's burden to show otherwise. By failing to have those seven jurors interviewed by the trial court, I would hold that the State failed to rebut the presumption that the extraneous material prejudiced Defendant. For this reason, it cannot be said that Defendant acquiesced or waived the trial court's "interviews" with the remaining seven jurors. It was not Defendant's duty to assist the State in rebutting the presumption of prejudice that Defendant was entitled to under our case law.
Alternatively, I would hold that due process and fair trial requirements imbedded in our state's Constitution required the trial court to conduct a full evidentiary hearing. At that hearing, the parties would be afforded the right to examine and cross-examine all jurors, not only the five jurors interviewed privately and in chambers by the court.
In determining a remedy, I considered whether remanding the case for the trial court to interview the other jurors would be feasible. To do so, however, is problematic after the lapse of time in this appeal since trial. The trial ended in February 1998, over two years ago. Consequently, there may be great risk that the juror's recollections regarding the impact of the extraneous material would be impaired. Addi
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