Coates v. State

• Decision Date: 26 September 2003
• Docket Number: No. 5D02-3673.,5D02-3673.
• Citation: 855 So.2d 223
• Parties: Ronald Jay COATES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

855 So.2d 223

Ronald Jay COATES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 5D02-3673.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

September 26, 2003.

James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Barbara C. Davis, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Anthony J. Golden, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.

MONACO, J.

There were a lot of odd things that happened in this case, but in the final analysis, each was properly addressed by the trial judge, and none require a reversal. Ronald J. Coates appeals the judgment and sentence that resulted in his conviction of first degree premeditated murder and a sentence of life imprisonment. He seeks a new trial.

The testimony at the jury trial reflected that after a series of altercations with the victim, Jeremy Welch, Mr. Coates shot Mr. Welch in front of a number of witnesses. After the initial volley of gunfire, the victim fell to the ground on his face. Mr. Coates and his accomplice then approached the fallen Mr. Welch and continued to shoot until Mr. Welch died. An autopsy reflected that the victim had been shot ten times. Mr. Coates appeals a number of rulings made by the trial judge, only three of which merit discussion.

A. JURY QUESTIONING AND NOTE-TAKING.

Mr. Welch asserts as error the trial court's decision to allow the jury to take notes during the trial and to ask questions of witnesses under controlled circumstances. Mr. Coates objected to each procedure both prior to trial and at the trial. We find no error.

The court authorized jurors to take notes, but advised the jury that their notes could not leave the court room at any time, except that jurors would be permitted to take them into the deliberation room when they retired to consider their verdict. He told them as well that their notes would be collected at the conclusion of the trial and shredded, and that no one would read them. He reminded them that notes are intended as an aid to memory, but should not take precedence over their independent recollections of the evidence. Finally, he advised them that whether they elected to take notes was up to each juror individually, but that they should not be distracted from the evidence by taking notes. Mr. Coates objected to the procedure, however, because he argued, "that's very confusing, distracting. They overemphasize notes over memory, et cetera." We conclude that his objections to note-taking were not well-founded.

The arguments for and against allowing jurors to take notes were summarized concisely in United States v. Maclean, 578 F.2d 64 (3d Cir.1978). The strongest arguments for note-taking are that it is a valuable tool for refreshing memory and helps jurors to concentrate on the proceedings. The arguments against include concerns that the best note-takers may dominate a jury, or that too much emphasis might be placed on notes. As the Maclean court pointed out, however, there is no particular need to decide whether the dangers of note-taking outweigh its benefits. It is enough to conclude that the benefits are substantial enough to allow judges to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to permit it.

Thus, whether to allow a jury to take notes and use them in deliberations is a question within the sound discretion of the trial court. See Kelley v. State, 486 So.2d 578, 583 (Fla.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 871, 107 S.Ct. 244, 93 L.Ed.2d 169 (1986); see also United States v. Rhodes, 631 F.2d 43 (5th Cir.1980). Frankly, it is hard to understand why anyone would find note-taking by jurors to be offensive. Studies reflect that juries allowed to take notes are better informed about the evidence and the law to be applied, and that note-taking is not distracting or disruptive. J.D. Cowan, et al., What Lawyers Think of Jury Trial Innovations, 86 Judicature 192 (2003); R. Creswell, Georgia Courts In The 21st Century, 53 Mercer L.Rev. 1 (Fall 2001). Certainly trial judges routinely take notes during non-jury trials when the judge is the trier of fact, and for years jurors have routinely been allowed to take notes during eminent domain trials without evident adverse effect. Florida Eminent Domain Practice and Procedure (2000), Chapter 11, Jury Instructions, 11-7. Moreover, the legislature saw fit to adopt a statute calling for jurors to be allowed to take notes in civil trials that are likely to exceed five days, provided jurors were properly instructed on the use of notes. See § 40.50(2), Fla. Stat. (2002); see also Fla. Std. Jury Instr. (Civ.)1.8(a). We see no logical reason, therefore, why a trial court cannot exercise its sound discretion in extending the privilege of note-taking to juries in criminal trials.

In the present case the trial judge opted to allow the jury to take notes, and carefully and capably instructed it on the subject of note-taking. We perceive no abuse of discretion, and consequently no error in this regard.

Similarly, the court allowed the jury to ask questions of witnesses in a carefully controlled environment. The judge instructed the jurors to write any questions they might have with respect to a witness on a sheet of paper and to hand the document to the bailiff. Jurors were then asked to leave the courtroom while the judge reviewed the questions with the attorneys and ruled on any objections. Thereafter, the jury was readmitted to the courtroom and the judge asked the question of the witness. Each attorney was then given the opportunity to ask follow-up questions.

Mr. Coates does not appear to object to any particular question that was asked. Rather, he argues that the court abused its discretion in allowing jury questioning at all. He asserts that the process of jury questioning compels jurors to become advocates, rather than neutral finders of fact. We again find no abuse of discretion.

We conclude instead that the benefits of allowing jury questioning of witnesses is substantial, and that a trial court may exercise its sound discretion in determining whether to use it in a particular case. Our supreme court has approved jury questioning of witnesses, so long as the judge controls the procedure. See Watson v. State, 651 So.2d 1159 (Fla.1994), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 852, 116 S.Ct. 151, 133 L.Ed.2d 96 (1995). While there have been some misgivings expressed, the district courts of appeal have likewise sanctioned controlled jury questioning. See Henderson v. State, 792 So.2d 641 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001); Patterson v. State, 725 So.2d 386 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998); Tanner v. State, 724 So.2d 156 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998); Bradford v. State, 722 So.2d 858 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998); Pierre v. State, 601 So.2d 1309 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992); Scheel v. State, 350 So.2d 1120 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977); see also § 40.50(2), Fla. Stat. (2002). Similarly, virtually all federal jurisdictions that have considered jury questioning have sanctioned it under proper controls. See United States v. Hernandez, 176 F.3d 719 (3d Cir.1999); Shackelford v. Champion, 156 F.3d 1244 (10th Cir.1998), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1150, 119 S.Ct. 1050, 143 L.Ed.2d 56 (1999); United States v. Feinberg, 89 F.3d 333 (7th Cir.1996), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 1133, 117 S.Ct. 997, 136 L.Ed.2d 876 (1997); United States v. Sutton, 970 F.2d 1001 (1st Cir.1992); United States v. Land, 877 F.2d 17 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 894, 110 S.Ct. 243, 107 L.Ed.2d 194 (1989); United States v. Polowichak, 783 F.2d 410 (4th Cir.1986); United States v. Callahan, 588 F.2d 1078 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 826, 100 S.Ct. 49, 62 L.Ed.2d 33 (1979); United States v. Gonzales, 424 F.2d 1055 (9th Cir.1970). See, generally, Joshua H. Tucker, Comment, The Impartiality Question, Should Juror Witness Questioning Be Upheld, 25 Hamline L.Rev. 517 (2002).

The procedure adopted by the trial court in the present case is essentially the one suggested by the Fourth District in Pierre v. State, 601 So.2d 1309 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992). While it may not be the only procedure that might be found acceptable, it is certainly one that assures careful control over the process. We accordingly find no abuse of discretion in its application during the trial of Mr. Coates.

B. MISSING EXHIBITS.

Mr. Coates' defense was basically that he had been mistakenly identified as the person who shot the victim, Mr. Welch. After the jury was instructed and had deliberated for about 6 hours it asked to see certain photographic lineups that had been admitted into evidence and shown to the jury. Although the trial court and counsel thought that all of the trial exhibits had been sent back with the jury at the start of deliberations, they soon learned that the photo lineups and several other pieces of evidence had not been given to the jury.

Counsel for Mr. Coates eventually discovered that he had inadvertently placed the documents in his truck when his staff gathered up all of his trial materials at the conclusion of the trial. He apologized for his unintentional actions (which apologies and explanations were accepted by the trial judge), but then moved for a mistrial because the jury did not have the exhibits during the whole of its deliberations. He argued that giving the jury the exhibits now would place undue emphasis on them. The court, however, noted that each of the missing exhibits had been published to the jury when they were admitted, and decided to give the exhibits to the jury after instructing them appropriately.

His instructions essentially told the jury that the exhibits had not gone to them at the outset of their deliberations because of human error, and that they were not to accord any additional weight to the exhibits solely because they were being given to them late. More specifically he told them:

With regard to these exhibits, do not place any special emphasis or undue weight. You are to weigh them just like you would any other evidence in this case.

Simply because they are tendered to you late, they're still evidence

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