 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Mann6/6/2000
ring its cross-examination of Dr. Watts, the questions he felt it had failed to address and what he felt to be the lack of any "logical tie" between it and Defendant's theory of defense.
The record does not indicate that: Juror No. 7 referred to or relied upon any articles or extra-record authority in support of his view of the evidence; he brought into the jury room any physical object-be it notes or models-with which to assist in his presentation; he performed any "experiments" outside the jury room; he possessed any specific, pre-existing knowledge of the case he was to judge; or he introduced any fact to the jury's deliberations that was extrinsic to the record.
Upon this record, we do not agree with Defendant that Juror No. 7 acted improperly by: (a) expressing his "professional opinion" as to Dr. Watts' expert testimony; (b) voicing his opinion as to what he felt were the limitations of Dr. Watts' testimony, that is, that he felt counsel "didn't ask the right questions"; and (c) offering a "formal presentation" to his fellow jurors that illustrated his subjective view of the evidence at trial. Instead, we conclude that the record supports the district court's ruling that no extraneous material corrupted the jury's deliberations.
First, it was not improper for Juror No. 7 to have expressed his "professional opinion." As we have discussed, Juror No. 7 did not act improperly by bringing his profession and training into the jury room. See In re Malone, 911 P.2d at 486; cf. Chamberlain, 112 N.M. at 732, 819 P.2d at 682. This is especially the case as Defendant knew of his profession and training on voir dire. See Richards, 796 P.2d at 743. Moreover, upon our review of the applicable law and the record before us, Juror No. 7's expression of his "professional opinion" appears to have been nothing more than the expression of his subjective take on the evidence in record. As his fellow jurors stated to the district court judge during the in camera interviews, Juror No. 7 did little more than express his opinion based on his "life experience"; indeed, despite Defendant's characterization of the record, it indicates that Juror No. 7 presented this opinion "on like a kindergartner level."
Second, it was not improper for Juror No. 7 to have expressed what he felt were the questions Dr. Watts' testimony did not answer. In this regard, Juror No. 7 is guilty only of recognizing and sharing his view of the deficiencies and logical missteps of Defendant's presentation, much like Juror No. 9 did in noting the absence of any facial trauma to Noel after his alleged fall. Moreover, Juror No. 7 did not suggest deficiencies in Defendant's case out of whole cloth: His comments paralleled the questions the State asked Dr. Watts on cross-examination. A jury's recognition and discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the cases presented at trial is not misconduct. See Chamberlain, 112 N.M. at 732, 819 P.2d at 682 ("The jury is not bound by expert opinion."). It is its function. See id. at 733, 819 P.2d at 683 ("The jury was required to evaluate these conflicting versions of the truth, and it properly used the evidence before it to perform its duty."); cf. Paul C. Giannelli, The Admissibility of Novel Scientific Evidence: Frye v. United States, a Half-Century Later, 80 Colum. L. Rev. 1197, 1237 (1980) ("The major danger of scientific evidence is its potential to mislead the jury; an aura of scientific infallibility may shroud the evidence and thus lead the jury to accept it without critical scrutiny.").
Taking this view, we do not agree with Defendant that Juror No. 7 acted as an unsworn witness, offering unchallenged expert testimony for the jury's cons
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 New Mexico Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|