Barton

During the trial of four defendants for the attempted murder of a police officer, a juror committed misconduct by having repeated contact with the uncle of two defendants. After a hearing, the trial court denied new trial motions finding the presumption of prejudice had been rebutted. We affirm the judgments.

Factual and Procedural Background

Because the only issues involve juror misconduct—not insufficiency of the evidence or errant evidentiary rulings—the crime facts may be stated simply. Our perspective favors the judgment. (People v. Barnes (1986) 42 Cal.3d 284, 303-304 [ 228 Cal.Rptr. 228 , 721 P.2d 110 ].)

On December 3, 1992, at 11 p.m., Pomona Police Officer Roger Iwig was in full uniform on patrol in a marked black and white police car when he saw a blue minivan run a stop sign. Based on his observation and a radio call from Officer Duane Leonard, who was in a nearby patrol vehicle and also saw the traffic violation, Officer Iwig decided to stop the van and issue a traffic citation. He sped up and activated his high beams.

Through the rear window of the minivan he saw three people. Appellant Keith Eugene Barton was the driver, appellant Bobby Maurice Tillman…