California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from The People v. Hutchins, 109 Cal.Rptr.2d 643, 90 Cal. App. 4th 1308 (Cal. App. 2001):
We reject appellant's contention that the presumed error in this case was structural error and reversible per se. CALJIC No. 17.41.1 simply requires jurors to inform the court of juror misconduct. The instruction does not affect the framework within which the criminal trial proceeds, and does not render the trial fundamentally unfair or an unreliable vehicle for determining guilt or innocence beyond a reasonable doubt. Neither do we believe the instruction is likely to be coercive. "Absent misconduct by the jury, expressly identified in the instruction, the instruction is not likely to enter into jury deliberations at all. In the vast majority of cases, there is no jury misconduct. We do not see how an instruction that is not likely to come into play in most cases can constitute structural error requiring the reversal of every case in which it is given." (People v. Molina, supra, 82 Cal.App.4th at p. 1335.)
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