California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Menjivar, B271774 (Cal. App. 2017):
v. Tafoya, supra, 42 Cal.4th at p. 192.) Although Juror No. 1 testified that her vote was "somewhat" influenced by a "very biased" juror, she did not explain how that juror was actually biased, except to state he or she "was very swayed one way only" and referred to the defendant "in a kind of derogatory way" during deliberations. However, there was no indication that the allegedly biased juror prejudged the case, relied on any information from outside sources, or exerted an improper influence on the other jurors when he or she "kind of led" them toward a guilty verdict. As the trial court noted, it is not improper for a juror to try to persuade fellow jurors to accept his or her viewpoint during deliberations, and there may be times when one particularly persuasive juror is able to convince other jurors to change their vote prior to reaching a final verdict. Attempts to persuade disagreeing fellow jurors, even if done vehemently, do not establish improper bias or misconduct. (People v. Cowan (2010) 50 Cal.4th 401, 508 ["'jurors can be expected to disagree, even vehemently, and to attempt to persuade disagreeing fellow jurors by strenuous and sometimes heated means'"]; People v. Engelman (2002) 28 Cal.4th 436, 446 ["jurors, without committing misconduct, may disagree during deliberations and may express themselves vigorously"].)
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