It's a good day when a judicial opinion not only illustrates the rules on dismissing a juror during deliberations, but also has entertaining facts. U.S. v. Vartanian, issued by the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday, is a case like that.
Hagop Vartanian was accused of defrauding both lenders and the IRS. On the second day of deliberations, the jury foreperson sent the judge a note saying "There is one juror that has been seen on different occasions speaking to the defendant's family. Juror's name is Kathy. Three or four people have seen her and two saw her this morning chatting with them outside the courtroom."
The trial judge interviewed Kathy, Juror No. 7. The Ninth Circuit reported:
When questioned about her contacts, Juror 7 stated that she had only exchanged "pleasantries" with people associated with the case, telling them "hi," "it's a nice day," or "[t]hings will be okay." Juror 7 assured the judge she had done nothing more than say hello and did not intend to express her feelings about the case. At that time, Juror 7 also maintained that she made the "[t]hings will be okay" comment to a woman she described merely as dark-haired and present in the courtroom.
The trial judge then interviewed the other jurors, and got a different story. The "merely" dark-haired woman was no bystander, but Vartanian's sister. Juror No. 7 had tried to chat with defense counsel at Starbucks, had made a point of taking the elevator alone with members of the defense group, had approached Vartanian's family and talked for a full minute, and had talked about "Vartanian's eyes and how kind he looked and everything." The trial judge "also noted that Juror 7 exhibited other "bizarre" behavior, including "bombard[ing] . . . the parties and the Court with notes asking questions at inopportune times and bringing chocolates to the court reporter and insisting that she take them."
Hold the phone, she's a fan
Then one juror added something that took the case to the Ninth Circuit:
During an interview, one juror blurted out that "[Juror 7] said that [Vartanian] was not guilty and nobody can change --" Later, when asked whether Juror 7's conduct "influenced [her] or affected [her] in any way," the same juror also remarked: "Well, I think the jury is going to be hung up."
With those words the defense had an argument, and the trial judge had to find a legal boundary. A trial judge cannot dismiss a juror because of her views on the merits. If the other jurors were exaggerating Juror No. 7's outgoing nature in hopes they could sign their guilty verdict and go home, it was the trial judge's duty to let her stay. But a trial judge can, and should, dismiss a juror for "improper contacts suggesting juror bias."
The trial judge dismissed Juror No. 7, citing not only her contacts with the defense group but his belief that she had lied to him about those contacts. The Ninth Circuit affirmed.
(Starbucks photo by Bronwyn Quilliam at http://www.flickr.com/photos/beeep/92495907/; license details there.)
