State v. Webster

• Decision Date: 13 November 2014
• Docket Number: No. 13–1095.,13–1095.
• Citation: 859 N.W.2d 672 (Table)
• Parties: STATE of Iowa, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Tyler James WEBSTER, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Court of Appeals

859 N.W.2d 672 (Table)

STATE of Iowa, Plaintiff–Appellee

v.Tyler James WEBSTER, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 13–1095.

Court of Appeals of Iowa.

Nov. 13, 2014.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Rachel C. Regenold, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Heather Ann Mapes and Kevin Cmelik, Assistant Attorneys General, Timothy W. Dille, County Attorney, and Denise A. Timmins, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

Heard by VAITHESWARAN, P.J., and DOYLE and McDONALD, JJ.

Opinion

DOYLE, J.

Tyler Webster appeals from the judgment and conviction entered following a jury trial and a guilty verdict on the charge of second-degree murder. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

Tyler Webster and Buddy Frisbie had been good friends since their teenage years. On the evening of August 25, 2012, Frisbie and his girlfriend, Shelby Hall, went to a friend's house. There, they met Webster and Knight, a mutual friend of Frisbie's and Webster's. After a few hours of partying, Frisbie and Hall decided to go fishing and invited Webster to go along.

Frisbie and Hall drove back to their camper-trailer, located on Knight's property, to get their things. Webster and Knight also drove back to the campers in Webster's truck. It started raining, so Frisbie and Hall went into their trailer, and Webster went in with them. Knight returned to his own trailer.

At some point, Webster believed Frisbie was trying to force himself upon Hall. Webster left the trailer, went outside to his truck, and got a pistol out of the glove box. When he returned to the trailer and opened the door, Frisbie and Hall were kissing. Webster shot Frisbie twice in the head. Hall got up and ran to Knight's trailer.

Hall told Knight what happened, and he told her to hide in the back of his trailer. Knight grabbed his shotgun and stood at his door, and Webster came walking over with the gun still in his hand. Knight told Webster to put his gun down or he would shoot. Webster put the gun down and Knight called 9–1–1. Knight and Webster then walked up to the end of the road and waited for law enforcement to arrive. Webster was arrested thereafter. Frisbie died of the gunshot wounds, and Webster was subsequently charged with first-degree murder.

After voir dire and jury selection, which was not reported, the jury was impaneled and trial commenced. Throughout the one-week trial, the court admonished the jurors not to talk between themselves or to anyone else about the case and not to read or listen to any news reports. The court also admonished the jurors to keep an open mind and not reach any conclusions until the case was completed.

After the defense rested, a record was made outside the presence of the jury concerning an issue that had arisen concerning one juror. The court explained:

[A]t this point I wanted to bring up to counsel—I had mentioned this off the record previously—that on [the afternoon of Thursday, April 11], after we completed testimony ..., I was approached by the clerk of court and the court attendant who indicated that they had received some information that one of our jurors, [“Juror”], who works here in the courthouse, had, previous to the trial beginning, mentioned to both the [clerk] as well as one of [the clerk's] assistants ... that she would probably never be picked for the jury in this case because she knew the family.

Once the trial began and the clerk saw who was on the jury and noticed that [Juror] was on the jury, that surprised her and in passing on Thursday afternoon, [the clerk] mentioned to our court attendant ... that she was really surprised to see [Juror] on the jury since she'd indicated that she knew the family.

[The court attendant] was concerned in that she didn't recall as a part of the jury selection process that she'd sat through that [Juror] had said anything about having any connection to either side of the family, whether it was Mr. Webster or [Frisbie], and so they brought that to my attention. And I in turn indicated to the attorneys that that had happened, and it's my understanding that in order to maybe flesh this out a little bit more that the attorneys may want to ask some additional questions of [Juror] concerning her qualifications as a juror.

Defense counsel then questioned Juror. Juror said she is a Facebook¹ user, and Frisbie's parents, as well as one of Webster's wife's relatives, were “on [her] Facebook.” Juror testified she had not spoken “to anyone.” Juror also said her daughter, then twenty-seven-years old, had gone to school with and was friends with Frisbie's sibling. Juror said she did not know Frisbie himself, but she knew his parents in passing. She said that on the night of the incident, her Facebook news feed² “was going like clockwork,” and a friend of hers was posting “just anything she heard” concerning the shooting. When asked if she “would decide the case based upon what [she] remember[ed] from Facebook that night,” Juror answered:

I did not hear enough of Facebook except for that there had been a shooting, somebody had died. No. Absolutely—the Facebook meant nothing, and only that the next day my daughter told me who it was because, you know, I was trying to place who it was. But nothing—there would be nothing decided on any of those conversations there.

She said she had not talked to her daughter about the shooting “other than her [daughter] telling [her] who it was and that it was [Frisbie's sibling] ..., that's all [her daughter] ever told [her] about it because [her daughter and Frisbie's sibling] were—are friends.” She said it would not be difficult for her to be fair and impartial with the type of relationship she had with Frisbie's parents. Additionally, she stated:

I'm not biased towards anyone. I don't think, you know, the proceedings are spelling out, and when it comes time, I think I can make a fully good decision based on everything that I've written in my notes—

....

—several pages that I've—yeah, nothing I've wrote anywhere else. All of it's been wrote in the courtroom of course. That's all we can. Everything, you know, I think I can, you know, I think I've taken good notes, and I think I'll make a good decision based solely on what's in my notes.

Webster's attorney “pass[ed] for cause” and did not request Juror be removed from the jury panel.

The next morning, counsel completed their closing arguments. After reading the jury its instructions, the court recessed the two alternate jurors. The matter was submitted to the jury, and approximately five hours later, the jury returned a verdict finding Webster guilty of murder in the second degree, in violation of Iowa Code sections 707.1 and 707.3 (2011).

Webster subsequently filed motions for a new trial and in arrest of judgment. Webster submitted that new evidence came to light concerning Juror's actions during and after the trial, and he asserted Juror's conduct amounted to juror misconduct, by which he was denied a fair trial. The State resisted Webster's motions.

A hearing on the motions was held, and three witnesses were called to testify about Juror's alleged statements and actions. The first witness was an employee at a convenience store who testified she had known Juror for a long time, though she was “[n]ot real close friends with her.” The store employee testified that during the week of the trial, Juror had stopped in the store to make a purchase, and Juror had a conversation with two other customers Juror “evidently knew.” The store employee testified the conversation was “basically about the trial. [The employee] did not know [Juror] was a juror at that time. But then when [Juror] was talking to them back and forth, ... [the employee] concluded that [Juror] was a juror.” The employee testified one of the customers stated, “Everyone knows he's guilty,” and Juror responded, “Yeah.” The store employee testified the employee asked Juror, when Juror was paying for her purchase, if she was on the jury, and Juror told the employee she was. Responding to another question posed by the employee, the employee testified Juror told her Webster had “pled not guilty, ... and [the jury had] to decide guilt or innocence.”

The second witness testified she knew “Webster's mother and had followed all along ... the facts as understood by his mother in the trial.” Webster's mother was the witness's housekeeper, and considered a friend by the witness. The witness testified that a few days after the trial, she saw Juror in the grocery store, and Juror “was loudly proclaiming about the trial and the results of the trial and how just they were, and that he was guilty, and he deserved what he got and whatever.” She testified she stopped Juror, and she and Juror discussed the verdict. The witness testified the Juror stated Webster could have gotten help from Knight because, contrary to Webster's testimony, he was not an old man and she “looked up his age.” The witness also testified that Juror told her, “[M]y daughter ... knew both [Webster and Frisbie] when they were young, and that [Frisbie] was just this kind, sweet, gentle, polite person” and Webster “was a mouthy, aggressive ... verbally—you know, aggressive person.” She also testified Juror told her, “I know the Frisbie family, and those are good people. I ... didn't know [Frisbie], but I know the family, and they're good people.” The witness testified she asked Juror why she did not recuse herself like another potential juror “did when he got up and said, ‘I know the Webster family and I know the Frisbie family, and therefore I shouldn't be on the jury.’ “ She testified Juror responded, “They didn't ask me, so I didn't tell them.” The witness questioned Juror, “They didn't ask any of the jurors if anyone knew the Frisbie family?” The witness testified Juror said, “ ‘Nope,’ and she smiled and felt very proud of herself that she'd dodged that one.”

The third witness was Webster's wife, who testified she had heard from a number of peopl...