State v. Barnett

864 A.2d 979, 2005 Del. Super. LEXIS 10, 2005 WL 167405
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in State v. Barnett. Read the opinion of the Court — 2005 Del. Super. LEXIS 477
Superior Court of Delaware·Decided January 24, 2005·No. I.D. No. 0305010007·Published

Opinion

OPINION

JURDEN, J.

Before the Court is the Defendant’s Motion for New Trial. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND

On July 14, 2003 Vincent Barnett (hereinafter the “Defendant”) was indicted on two counts of Rape First Degree, three counts of Rape Second Degree, two counts of Rape Fourth Degree, and one count of Unlawful Sexual Contact Second Degree. Before the case went to the jury, the State entered a nolle prosequi on one of the counts of Rape Second Degree and the count of Unlawful Sexual Contact Second Degree. After a three day jury trial, the jury convicted the Defendant on two counts of Rape First Degree, one count of Rape Fourth Degree, and three counts of Unlawful Sexual Contact Second Degree.

The Defendant filed a timely Motion for New Trial on December 23, 2003, alleging [982]*982juror bias. The Defendant alleges in his motion that Juror No. 9, Edith Cornish, (hereinafter “Cornish”) was biased against him because she failed to advise the Court during voir dire that she knew the Defendant and that her husband once had an argument with the Defendant in 1989 or 1990 when her husband and the Defendant were coworkers.1 The State opposes the Defendant’s Motion for New Trial, arguing that “there is nothing in the record to reflect the jury reached its verdict on anything other than the evidence presented at trial or that there was dishonesty during voir dire. ”2

A. The Defendant’s Specific Allegations of Juror Bias in his Motion for New Trial

The Defendant alleges that after speaking with his family post-conviction, he realized he was actually “acquainted with Juror No. 9 Edith Cornish, which he had not realized at any point during trial.”3 In his Motion for New Trial, the Defendant asserts the following:

From about 1987 through 1992 Mr. Barnett was employed by PennDel Salvage. He worked as a welder, and on occasion also operated the crane. There were approximately eight other individuals who performed the same job. From about 1988 through 1991 one of the other welders was the Reverend Anthony “Tony” Cornish. In the years that they worked together, Mr. Barnett and Rev. Cornish had lunch together three or four days a week, and Mr. Barnett occasionally attended Rev. Cornish’s church. They also socialized at work functions. Mr. Barnett also knew Rev. Cornish’s wife, Edith Cornish. Mrs. Cornish came to the job site on occasion to retrieve the family van from Mr. Cornish, and Mr. Barnett would speak with her in the parking lot. They also socialized at work functions, including Christmas parties ...
In late 1989 or early 1990, Mr. Barnett’s relationship with Rev. Cornish deteriorated when the two of them argued over Mr. Barnett’s feeling that Rev. Cornish was not conducting himself properly as a minister. They also had a disagreement over the amount of a friendly wager of $25.00 on a football game, which Rev. Cornish believed was a wager for $50.00. When Mr. Barnett offered to pay the difference, Rev. Cornish told him not to worry about it, because some day he would get him back.
Following these incidents, Mr. Barnett and Rev. Cornish stopped speaking and going to lunches together. At the next employee Christmas Party, Rev. and Mrs. Cornish pointedly refused to sit at the same table as Mr. Barnett.
Since 1990, Mr. Barnett has had almost no interaction with either Rev. or Mrs. Cornish. When they have on occasion met in public, both Rev. and Mrs. Cornish have refused to speak to Mr. Barnett.4

In response to these allegations, and after conferring with counsel for the parties, the Court wrote to Cornish and requested that she appear at a hearing.5 [983]*983Upon receipt of the Court’s Letter, Cornish called and advised the Court of her availability. After again conferring with counsel, the Court scheduled a hearing for February 10, 2004.

B. The February 10, 2004 Hearing (Cornish)

At the February 10, 2004 hearing, the Court questioned Cornish as follows:

THE COURT: I wanted to ask you a couple of questions about the voir dire process. Do you remember serving as a juror in the Barnett trial?
THE JUROR: Yes, I do.
THE COURT: All right. And do you remember me asking a series of questions before I selected the jury?
THE JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: And do you remember me asking whether or not you knew the defendant, his counsel, or the prosecutor or anyone in their offices?
THE JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: All right. And I asked people to come forward who recognized the defendant, his attorney, the prosecutor, anyone from their offices. Do you recall that?
THE JUROR: Yes. I do.
THE COURT: All right. And you understood, at that time, that I was trying to find out whether or not any of the potential jurors in the case knew any one of the parties or their counsel?
THE JUROR: That’s true.
THE COURT: All right. When the trial began, did you have any reason to think that any of the answers that you had given in the voir dire were no longer true?
THE JUROR: No.
THE COURT: Okay. All Right. During the course of the trial, at any point, did you become aware that you might have recognized the defendant or his counsel?
THE JUROR: No.
THE COURT: Information has been given to the Court to suggest that your husband — is your husband’s name Tony?
THE JUROR: Anthony, yes.
THE COURT: Anthony.
THE JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: And is he a reverend?
THE JUROR: Yes, he is.
THE COURT: Information has been supplied to the Court to suggest that you and your husband had social interaction with Mr. Barnett a number of years ago.
THE JUROR: I don’t remember.
THE COURT: All right.
THE JUROR: Because my husband, I’m also co-pastor with him, so we have interaction with a lot of people, but I didn’t remember him.
THE COURT: As you sit here today, do you recognize the defendant, Mr. Barnett.
THE JUROR: No, I still don’t.
THE COURT: Okay. Were all the responses that you gave during the voir dire process true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
[984]*984THE JUROR: Yes, Ma’am.6

At this point, the Court asked counsel to come to sidebar and asked whether they had any additional questions.7

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State v. Barnett, 864 A.2d 979, 2005 Del. Super. LEXIS 10, 2005 WL 167405 (Del. Ct. App. 2005).

864 A.2d 979 (State v. Barnett) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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