Opinion
CASE NO. CR608-036.
August 10, 2009
ORDER
Before the Court is Defendant Donald Dickerson's Motion to Contact Jury. (Doc. 27.) Defendant Dickerson has been indicted for perjury with respect to a sworn statement about his prior criminal trial. (Doc. 1.) In this Motion, Defendant seeks permission to interview jurors from his prior criminal trial, pursuant to Southern District of Georgia Local Rule 83.8. After careful consideration, the Court sees no reason to allow the interviews. Therefore, the Motion is DENIED.
Specifically, Defendant allegedly filed a sworn affidavit with this Court stating that he was not present for jury selection at his criminal trial on February 6, 2006. (Doc. 1.)
There is no unfettered right to conduct post-trial interviews of jurors. See United States v. Hooshmand, 931 F.2d 725, 737 (11th Cir. 1991) (upholding as constitutional a local rule requiring the district court's permission for post-trial interviews of jurors).
Defendant may call the jurors as witnesses in this case, but the Court sees no purpose in allowing out-of-Court interviews of the same. Among other reasons, the record is clear on what these jurors will say about Defendant's presence. Furthermore, this is not a case where the jurors need to be interviewed to determine whether there was improper influence or juror misconduct. See Hooshmand, 931 F.2d at 737.
SO ORDERED.