Nothing published by the Ninth Circuit today. Gotta love those four-day weekends.
A couple of published cases from the California Court of Appeal, including this one. I'd have written the opinion differently than Justice Kriegler did. But I'd nonetheless have probably come out the same way.
I can see why the jury might want to slink out the back door and not talk to anyone after rendering their verdict. Mind you, I'm not positive that that's an especially good practice. But I agree it's not structural error.
So while I might have gotten there slightly differently -- probably in a more nuanced fashion that is shown in this opinion by a long-time prosecutor -- I think that Justice Kriegler properly affirms.
