State v. Kandzior

Summary

The Vermont Supreme Court considered whether the defendant’s conviction for sexual assault should be vacated because jurors may have overheard bench conferences during trial. The court held that the trial court committed plain error by failing to adequately investigate the possible jury taint and establish an evidentiary basis for determining prejudice. The conviction was vacated and the case remanded for a new trial.

Holdings

1. A defendant must timely move for a mistrial upon learning of possible jury taint to preserve the claim for appellate review; failure to do so results in plain-error review rather than waiver of the underlying right.
2. When a trial court learns of the possibility that jurors were exposed to extraneous information, it must investigate and establish an evidentiary basis sufficient to determine what the jury heard and whether the jury remained fair and unbiased.
3. A trial court's failure to investigate possible jury taint and establish an evidentiary basis for determining how the jury was affected is structural plain error that affects substantial rights and requires reversal without a specific showing of prejudice.

Questions Presented

1. Whether defendant preserved his claim that the jury was exposed to extraneous information by failing to move for a mistrial when the possible jury taint was discovered.
2. Whether the trial court committed plain error by failing to investigate and establish an evidentiary basis regarding what the jury may have heard during bench conferences.
3. Whether the trial court improperly excluded evidence of a prior false rape allegation.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded