California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Bassett, C071072 (Cal. App. 2015):
The trial court may discharge a juror who "becomes ill, or upon other good cause shown to the court is found to be unable to perform his or her duty . . . ." ( 1089.) While extreme inattentiveness due to sleeping may constitute good cause to discharge a juror, " 'courts have exhibited an understandable reluctance to overturn jury verdicts on the ground of inattentiveness during trial. . . . 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. [Citations.]' [Citation.]" (People v. Bradford (1997) 15 Cal.4th 1229, 1349 (Bradford).) "A juror must not be discharged for sleeping unless there is convincing proof the juror actually slept during trial. [Citations.]" (People v. Bowers (2001) 87 Cal.App.4th 722, 731.)
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.