Can a jury be discharged from a trial for inattentiveness?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Lindquist, 2d Crim. No. B285182 (Cal. App. 2018):

The trial court possesses broad discretion to retain or discharge a juror who becomes ill or otherwise is found to be unable to perform his duties. ( 1089; People v. Williams (2013) 58 Cal.4th 197, 289.) Although juror inattentiveness may constitute misconduct, "courts have exhibited an understandable

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reluctance to overturn jury verdicts on the ground of inattentiveness during trial." (People v. Bradford (1997) 15 Cal.4th 1229, 1349.) "Perhaps recognizing the soporific effect of many trials when viewed from a layman's perspective, these cases uniformly decline to order a new trial in the absence of convincing proof that the jurors were actually asleep during material portions of the trial." (Ibid.)

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