U.S. v. Huntress

• Citation: 956 F.2d 1309
• Decision Date: 18 March 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-5626,91-5626
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Logan P. HUNTRESS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

Page 1309

956 F.2d 1309

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Logan P. HUNTRESS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 91-5626.

United States Court of Appeals,

Fifth Circuit.

March 18, 1992.

Rehearing Denied April 28, 1992.

Anthony Nicholas, Roy R. Barrera, Sr., Nicholas & Barrera, San Antonio, Tex., for defendant-appellant.

Mark R. Stelmach and LeRoy Morgan Jahn, Asst. U.S. Attys., Ronald F. Ederer, U.S. Atty., San Antonio, Tex., for U.S.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Before THORNBERRY, KING and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges.

KING, Circuit Judge:

This case principally requires us to clarify the procedures a district judge must follow when a juror is dismissed during deliberations. We also review several other alleged errors that took place at trial. We will affirm the appellant's conviction.

I. BACKGROUND

Logan P. Huntress was tried by a jury on five counts of knowingly making false statements to federally insured banking institutions for the purpose of influencing them to extend credit to him, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014. He was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive two-year sentences, five years of probation, restitution of $730,000, and a $50 special assessment on each count. The evidence at trial showed that Huntress submitted false financial statements when he applied for loans from several San Antonio banks. Huntress stated in the financial statements and in discussions with bank officers that he owned a substantial unencumbered stock portfolio, although he did not own the stocks listed on the financial statements. Officers from the various banks involved testified that they relied upon Huntress's false written and oral statements regarding his financial position in deciding to extend credit.

As the primary contentions on appeal concern events that occurred after the trial, we relate those events here in some detail. We will discuss the facts bearing upon Huntress's other arguments in the course of our legal analysis of those arguments.

After the close of the evidence, the jury retired to deliberate and the judge dismissed the alternate juror. The jury deliberated for the rest of that day. On the morning of the next day, the court received a note from the jury foreman stating that one of the jurors wanted a conference with the judge. In response to questioning, the foreman told the judge that the juror had a problem with the facts or the law of the case. The judge told the jury foreman to submit the juror's question in writing. An hour later, the jury sent a note that said, "A juror doesn't want to participate in arriving at a verdict. What do we do?" The judge sent a note back stating, "All jurors will continue to deliberate until you have reached a verdict." The jury did not reach a verdict that day, and, because they were not sequestered, they went home.

The next morning, Dr. Nau, a doctor who was treating juror Homoki, contacted the court. Mr. Homoki had checked himself into a hospital the previous night, threatening to ingest fire ant killer if the hospital refused to admit him. After some discussion with the parties, the judge called Dr. Nau to find out the details surrounding the juror's condition. Dr. Nau told the judge over the telephone that the juror was distraught and suicidal, and that he was suffering from paranoia stemming from a history of drug abuse. Dr. Nau opined that Mr. Homoki's condition was brought on by the stress related to his jury service, and that Mr. Homoki could not make a decision in the case in his present condition. He recommended that Mr. Homoki not be required to return to jury duty upon his imminently scheduled release from the hospital. Defense counsel requested an evidentiary hearing to examine Mr. Homoki as well as the doctor, but the judge determined that his conversation provided a sufficient basis for excusing Mr. Homoki from jury service. No evidentiary hearing was held.

The district judge presented the parties with three options: allow the remaining 11 jurors to proceed to a verdict; recall the alternate juror, Ms. Lizana; or declare a mistrial. Huntress objected to the release of Mr. Homoki, refused to stipulate to an 11-juror verdict, and objected to recall of the alternate juror. The government expressed a preference for an 11-juror verdict, and pointed out that, under Fed.R.Crim.P. 23(b), the court could permit the 11-member jury to proceed to verdict without obtaining the defendant's consent. Huntress then moved for a mistrial based on Mr. Homoki's failure truthfully to answer voir dire questions concerning his ability to serve on the jury. The judge had asked during voir dire, "Is there anyone on the jury panel that has any serious personal situation or medical or physical problem which would make it difficult or impossible for you to sit as a juror in this case?" Mr. Homoki had not responded to that question. The judge, citing Dr. Nau's statement that Mr. Homoki would have been unable to recognize and disclose his psychological condition during voir dire, decided that Mr. Homoki did not deliberately lie, and denied Huntress's motion for a mistrial.

Huntress then requested that Ms. Lizana, the alternate juror, be recalled and examined to determine whether she could properly be reimpaneled. The judge recalled Ms. Lizana and questioned her. Ms. Lizana stated that she had discussed the case with her boss, but only in general terms, and she stated that this discussion would not influence her decision in the case. The judge questioned the other 11 jurors regarding their ability to set aside all previous discussions and begin their deliberations afresh with the newly reconstituted jury. They all claimed that they could do so. Based on these interviews, the judge decided to reimpanel Ms. Lizana as a member of the jury, and the new jury retired to deliberate. After three hours, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Release of Juror Homoki

Huntress first argues that the district judge erred in dismissing Mr. Homoki. "[I]t is within the trial judge's sound discretion to remove a juror whenever the judge becomes convinced that the juror's abilities to perform his duties become impaired." United States v. Dominguez, 615 F.2d 1093, 1095 (5th Cir.1980) (citations omitted); see also United States v. Helms, 897 F.2d 1293, 1298 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 257, 112 L.Ed.2d 215 (1990). We will not disturb the judge's decision unless we find that it prejudiced the defendant or another party. United States v. Rodriguez, 573 F.2d 330, 332 (5th Cir.1978). Prejudice occurs in these circumstances when a juror is discharged without factual support or for a legally irrelevant reason. Id. Huntress attempts to squeeze through this narrow standard of review by contending that there is a basis in the record for believing that Mr. Homoki was a holdout juror who feigned mental illness to avoid the coercive pressure of his fellow jurors. In support of this theory, Huntress points to the facts that (1) the foreman indicated to the judge after the first note that a juror had a problem with the facts or the law, not a physical or family matter; (2) the jury's second note indicated that one of the jurors did not want to participate in a decision; and (3) Mr. Homoki had not exhibited any sign of incapacity during the voir dire or the week-long trial. Citing United States v. Wilson, 894 F.2d 1245 (11th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Levine v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 3284, 111 L.Ed.2d 792 (1990), he contends that evidence of a holdout juror is an important factor in determining whether the district judge abused his discretion.

We find that the district judge had an adequate factual and legal basis for dismissing Mr. Homoki. Wilson in no way stands for the proposition that any evidence that the juror was a holdout raises a red flag. In that case, the judge dismissed a juror who had been in poor health throughout the trial after the juror became even more ill during deliberations. In upholding the judge's decision, the court merely "note[d] that the record does not present even the slightest basis to believe that this juror was a holdout juror or that the jury had reached any sort of impasse in its deliberations." Id. at 1250.

More importantly, the evidence to which Huntress points to support his theory that Mr. Homoki was a holdout juror is not inconsistent with Dr. Nau's diagnosis of mental incapacity. Assuming that the juror who had a problem participating in a decision was Mr. Homoki, Dr. Nau's statements to the judge support the conclusion that the problem stemmed not from Mr. Homoki's status as a holdout juror, but from a severe, pre-existing condition related to a history of drug abuse. The facts that Mr. Homoki had previously served as a juror on a jury that reached a decision, that he did not respond in the negative to the question whether any mental or physical problem would prevent him from serving, and that he was able to sit through the trial without incident, do not detract from the judge's decision. The question was whether Mr. Homoki had become so impaired at a particular point in the course of his jury service that he could no longer perform the function required of him at that time. A juror's physical or mental capacity for service can change throughout the trial. Earlier, Mr. Homoki's task was simply to sit through the trial and listen to the evidence, while after the close of the evidence his task was to deliberate and reach a decision. Huntress's theory of Mr. Homoki as a holdout juror who may have feigned illness and checked himself into the hospital to avoid the pressure of his fellow jurors is pure speculation with no support in the record. Apparently without appreciating its significance, he states that "[t]he first evidence of any physical inability to perform is Dr. Nau's phone call to the Court." This phone call, however,...