State v. Kays

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of sexual assault of a child. Defendant appealed, assigning as error that an alternate thirteenth juror deliberated and was polled in the guilty verdict against him. The original bill of exceptions reflected the thirteenth juror’s being polled. A reproofread version of the bill of exceptions that replaced the original bill of exceptions, however, reflected only twelve jurors polled for the verdict. The court of appeals remanded the matter to the district court for a hearing on the question of the accuracy of the bill of exceptions. The district court entered an order finding that the reproofread version of the bill of exceptions was the bill of exceptions upon which Defendant’s appeal should proceed. Defendant argued before the court of appeals that the bill of exceptions was not credible and that a new trial was warranted. The court of appeals affirmed, finding no merit to Defendant’s assignments of error. The Supreme Court affirmed on further review, holding that the district court did not plainly err in determining that the presently filed bill of exceptions was accurate. View "State v. Kays" on Justia Law