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Young v. Johnson9/20/2001
reference to excuse her:
THE COURT: You know, I'm seeing tears in your eyes. Why are you doing that?
JUROR #8: Why am I doing what?
THE COURT: I mean, I can force the issue by just saying that you're excused, you know. I know you put a lot into this, you do ask a lot of questions, and -
JUROR #8: I'm sorry.
The judge then arguably pressured the juror by informing her that if she remained on the jury, the judge would feel uncomfortable:
THE COURT: Well, you know, everybody here - I mean, I lost my mother over Christmas, and everybody here knows what it's like to lose a loved one, and there's only going to be one funeral.
JUROR #8: I know.
THE COURT: And this is a service that you've provided. You've already provided it to this point. Why put yourself through second guessing about going, and I'm going to feel in the wrong place in my own heart by not recessing this trial.
JUROR #8: I don't want you to recess the trial. I don't want you to recess the trial. That's not - no. Your lives don't need to go on hold because of mine.
The judge next generally discussed the grieving process and mentioned the need to assist the deceased person's family. Juror #8 then started to explain how her circumstances were different but then ceased her explanation and acceded to the judge's wishes:
THE COURT: Well, there's some balance here that needs to take place, and the balance is that the loss of a loved one is more important than these two people out in the courtroom.
JUROR #8: That's true.
THE COURT: Appreciate that. That's something that you'll carry with you the rest of your life.
JUROR #8: That's true.
THE COURT: And if she was somebody you had custody of for four months, I mean, I can't imagine not wanting to participate through the process. If nothing else, to be there for the other people in the family.
JUROR #8: That's true too. But, it's a long, drawn, more detailed thing, but --
THE COURT: Yeah.
JUROR #8: -- that's fine. I'll go with whatever you wish.
THE COURT: All right. Then I'm going to excuse you today.
The judge then thanked Juror #8 for her service, and she apologized for being "a pain with the questions."
The judge later ruled that he had excused Juror #8 from further service "to free up an understandably emotional juror to deal with the loss of a loved one." But the judge failed to make a sufficient inquiry of the juror to support this conclusion. He never asked her any questions designed to determine whether she would be emotionally able to continue as a juror if she missed the funeral. For example, he never asked her why she wanted to remain on the jury rather than attend the funeral or if she was close to her goddaughter or the child's family at the time of her death. The juror's answers to such inquiries may not have supported a decision to excuse her from continued service. Indeed, in an affidavit submitted in support of the motion for relief from judgment/new trial, Juror #8 stated that although she was somewhat upset by her goddaughter's death, it "in no way [would have] prevented from continuing to serve as a juror," and pay attention to the proceedings. She explained that at the time of the child's death she was "not at all close to her parents" and that was "part of the reason why did not feel it all that necessary to attend the funeral."
Additionally, a sufficient inquiry was particularly warranted in light of the pending allegations of Juror #8's bias to satisfy the parties that the jud
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