United States v. Rodgers

85 F. App'x 483
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 6, 2004
DocketNo. 02-3975
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 85 F. App'x 483 (United States v. Rodgers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Rodgers, 85 F. App'x 483 (6th Cir. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

MOORE, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-Appellant, Anthony Rodgers (“Rodgers”), appeals his conviction by jury on charges of armed bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113, and use of a firearm during a violent felony, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Rodgers raises two issues on appeal. First, he asserts that the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion for a mistrial after at least one juror lied when questioned by the court regarding jury members having seen Rodgers in custody outside of the courtroom. Second, he asserts that the district court abdicated its obligations under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). by admitting expert testimony without a proper foundation regarding its relevance and reliability. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM Rodgers’s conviction.

I.

On July 31, 2001, three masked men robbed the Fifth Third Bank (“bank”), in Maumee, Ohio. During the robbery, one of the robbers fired a single gunshot. Rodgers was arrested, charged, tried to a jury, and convicted of armed bank robbery and using a firearm in relation to the robbery. On August 16, 2002, the district court entered its judgment of sentence, and on August 21, 2002, Rodgers timely appealed the district court’s judgment.

II.

A one and one-half-day trial was held on February 19, 2002 and February 20, 2002. On the morning of the second day of trial, Juror Peadon and one other juror saw Rodgers wearing his prison jumpsuit and in the custody of U.S. marshals. After this incident was reported to the district court, the court questioned Juror Peadon. During questioning, Juror Peadon stated that he was on the elevator with another juror, and when the elevator door opened, he saw Rodgers with what looked like officers. He also stated during questioning that he told three to five other jurors what he saw while on the elevator, in response to a juror’s comment that she was not allowed to use the elevator that morning. The court asked Juror Peadon whether he understood that “the defendant is presumed innocent until the government proves him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” to which Juror Peadon answered yes. Joint Appendix (“J.A.”) at 83. After the court finished questioning Juror Peadon, Rodgers moved for a mistrial.

[485]*485The district judge overruled Rodgers’s motion but nevertheless decided to question each juror individually to ask what he had seen or heard about the defendant and whether he could decide the case only on the evidence presented at trial. The court asked each juror whether he had seen or heard anything that morning in regard to Rodgers, and whether, if he were to have seen or heard something about Rodgers, that would affect his verdict. Each juror responded that he had not seen anything, and that if he had, it would not affect his verdict. After the court questioned each juror, Rodgers renewed his motion for a mistrial, and the court again overruled it. The court also made a finding that “there’s no reasonable basis for concluding that this jury will be in any way prejudiced, either the two individual jurors or the other juror or the jury as a whole would be in any way prejudiced by the brief and really rather inconclusive observation of the defendant, ” J.A. at 111 (emphasis added). The jury then reconvened, and the court gave a curative instruction.

On appeal, Rodgers argues that the district court abused its discretion by denying his motion for a mistrial after Juror Pea-don saw the defendant in custody outside of the courtroom. Rodgers contends that the district court should have presumed that this incident prejudiced Rodgers’s right to a fair trial because at least one juror lied when questioned by the district court, in that either Juror Peadon lied about telling three to five of his fellow jurors that he saw the defendant in custody, or his fellow jurors lied about what Peadon told them.

This court reviews “for abuse of discretion the district court’s denial of a motion for mistrial.” United States v. Yang, 281 F.3d 534, 549 (6th Cir.2002), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1170, 123 S.Ct. 1015, 154 L.Ed.2d 912 (2003). Deference is given to the district court because “[t]he trial judge is in the best position to determine the nature of the alleged jury misconduct ... [and] is also in the best position to determine appropriate remedies for any demonstrated misconduct.” United States v. Copeland, 51 F.3d 611, 613 (6th Cir.). cert. denied, 516 U.S. 874, 116 S.Ct. 199, 133 L.Ed.2d 133 (1995).

That Juror Peadon saw Rodgers outside of the courtroom wearing his prison jumpsuit and in the custody of officers is not enough to raise a presumption of prejudice, a point conceded by Rodgers. We have held that “[generally, a criminal defendant ‘should not be compelled to go to trial in prison or jail clothing because of the possible impairment’ of the presumption of innocence guaranteed as part of a defendant’s due process right to a fair trial.” United States v. Waldon, 206 F.3d 597, 607 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 881, 121 S.Ct. 193, 148 L.Ed.2d 134 (2000) (quoting Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501, 504, 96 S.Ct. 1691, 48 L.Ed.2d 126 (1976)). In analyzing defendants’ “prison garb” claims, however, we have distinguished between “a defendant who is shackled while in the courtroom” and “a defendant who has been observed in shackles for a brief period elsewhere in the courthouse.” Id. When defendants were shackled during trial, we presume prejudice, whereas defendants who were observed in shackles elsewhere in the courthouse “are required to show actual prejudice.” Id. Because Juror Peadon observed Rodgers in custody outside of the courtroom, there is no presumption of prejudice. Additionally, that Juror Peadon relayed his observation of the defendant in custody to three to five of his fellow jurors does not give rise to a presumption of prejudice. See id. at 607-OS.

We have articulated two ways that a party may obtain a new trial based upon a [486]*486juror’s concealment of information on voir dire. United States v. Solorio, 337 F.3d 580, 595 (6th Cir.2003). “First, if a juror deliberately conceals material information on voir dire, the party seeking a new trial can obtain relief by showing that the juror could have been challenged for cause.... In such a case, ‘bias may [but need not] be inferred.’ ” Id. (quoting Zerka v. Green, 49 F.3d 1181, 1185-86 (6th Cir.1995)). Second, “[i]t is possible, however, that a juror could have concealed information in a non-deliberate fashion, through an ‘honest, though mistaken, response.’ If information is not deliberately concealed, bias may not be inferred.

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Bluebook (online)
85 F. App'x 483, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-rodgers-ca6-2004.