Flash!! — Juror Can’t Have Lunch With Key Witness During Trial

It really happened. After finishing his testimony, a key witness had lunch in the courthouse cafeteria with a juror on the case during the trial. He later told the Court their conversation did not include anything about the case. The Trial Court expressed multiple concerns but did not declare a mistrial.  The Appellate Court reversed noting the potential prejudice to the defendant from the improper contact, i.e. “none of us have any idea what this juror is telling the other jurors in the jury room.” [To say the least!] See Howard v. State, 943 So. 2d 884 (Fla. 2DCA 2006).

This seems like a good case to end the year! Happy Holidays to all our friends across the State from the trial team at Kelley Uustal here in sunny South Florida.