People v. Williams

*444 Opinion

A juror in this criminal case expressly refused to follow the trial court’s instructions regarding the crime of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, because the juror disagreed with the law criminalizing such behavior. The trial court dismissed the juror and replaced him with an alternate juror. On appeal following conviction, defendant claims the juror should not have been discharged, because the juror’s refusal to follow the law was proper under the concept of “jury nullification.” The Court of Appeal rejected that contention and affirmed the judgment of conviction. We agree with the Court of Appeal and affirm the judgment.

I

Defendant Arasheik Wesley Williams was charged in an 11-count information with committing the offenses of false imprisonment (Pen. Code, § 236), 1 assault with a deadly weapon or by force likely to produce great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(1)), forcible rape (§ 261, subd. (a)(2)), battery with serious bodily injury (§§ 242, 243, subd. (d)), and torture (§ 206) against his former girlfriend, Jennifer B., during three incidents occurring on December 31, 1994, January 1, 1995, and January 9, 1995. The information further alleged that…

I agree with the majority that a juror in a criminal case who votes to convict or acquit based on the juror’s own moral views rather than on applicable principles of law should be discharged. I write separately, however, to sound a note of caution about the manner in which a trial court should investigate an allegation of such misconduct.

When a deliberating jury tells the trial court that one of its members refuses to obey the court’s instructions on the law, the court faces a delicate and difficult task, because its “duty to dismiss jurors for misconduct comes into conflict with a duty that is equally, if not more, important—safeguarding the secrecy of jury deliberations.” (U.S. v. Thomas (2d Cir. 1997) 116 *464 F.3d 606 , 618.) A juror who votes to convict or acquit for reasons that violate the trial court’s instructions on the law commits misconduct. Yet the trial court cannot probe the juror’s motivations for fear of compromising the secrecy of the jury’s deliberations. (U.S. v. Brown (D.C. Cir. 1987) 823 F.2d 591, 596 .) To permit trial judges “to conduct intrusive inquiries into . . . the reasoning behind a juror’s view of the case, or the particulars of a juror’s (likely…

I concur entirely in the majority’s decision to affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal. As I explain more fully in my concurring opinion in People v. Cleveland (2001) 25 Cal.4th 466, 487 [ 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 313 , 21 P.3d 1225 ], although we review for abuse of discretion a trial court’s determination that good cause exists to discharge a juror, “a stronger evidentiary showing than mere substantial evidence is required to support a trial court’s decision to discharge a sitting juror.” (Id. at p. 488 (cone. opn. of Werdegar, J.).) Instead, a juror’s refusal or inability to deliberate or, as here, a juror’s inability or unwillingness to perform the duties of a juror (Pen. Code, § 1089), must appear to a demonstrable reality before he or she may be discharged.

Because I agree the evidence shows to a demonstrable reality that Juror No. 10 was unable or unwilling to perform his duties as a juror due to his stated refusal to follow the law, I concur in the majority’s opinion.

A juror in this criminal case expressly refused to follow the trial court's instructions regarding the crime of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, because the juror disagreed with the law criminalizing such behavior. The trial court dismissed the juror and replaced him with an alternate juror. On appeal following conviction, defendant claims the juror should not have been discharged, because the juror's refusal to follow the law was proper under the concept of "jury nullification." The Court of Appeal rejected that contention and affirmed the judgment of conviction. We agree with the Court of Appeal and affirm the judgment.

Defendant Arasheik Wesley Williams was charged in an 11-count information with committing the offenses of false imprisonment (Pen.Code, § 236), [1] assault with a deadly weapon or by force likely to produce great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(1)), forcible rape (§ 261, subd. (a)(2)), battery with serious bodily injury (§§ 242, 243, subd. (d)), and torture (§ 206) against his former girlfriend, Jennifer B., during three incidents occurring on December 31, 1994, January 1, 1995, and January 9, 1995. The information further alleged that…