(a) In any criminal prosecution to be tried to the jury in the Superior Court if it appears to the court that the trial is likely to be protracted, the court may, in its discretion, direct that, after a jury has been selected, two or more additional jurors shall be added to the jury panel, to be known as “alternate jurors”. Such alternate jurors shall have the same qualifications and be selected and subject to examination and challenge in the same manner and to the same extent as the jurors constituting the regular panel, provided, in any case when the court directs the selection of alternate jurors, the number of peremptory challenges allowed shall be as follows: In any criminal prosecution the state and the accused may each peremptorily challenge thirty jurors if the offense for which the accused is arraigned is punishable by death or life imprisonment without the possibility of release, eighteen jurors if the offense is punishable by life imprisonment, eight jurors if the offense is punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and for less than life, and four jurors in any other case.
(b) Alternate jurors shall be sworn separately from those constituting the regular panel, and the oaths to be administered shall be as provided in section 1-25.
(c) Alternate jurors shall attend at all times upon trial of the cause. They shall be seated when the case is on trial with or near the jurors constituting the regular panel, with equal opportunity to see and hear all matters adduced in the trial of the case. If, at any time, any juror shall, for any reason, become unable to further perform the duty of a juror, the court may excuse such juror and, if any juror is so excused or dies, the court may order that an alternate juror who is designated by lot to be drawn by the clerk shall become a part of the regular panel and the trial or deliberation shall then proceed with appropriate instructions from the court as though such juror had been a member of the regular panel from the time when the trial or deliberation began. If the alternate juror becomes a member of the regular panel after deliberations began, the jury shall be instructed by the court that deliberations by the jury shall begin anew. A juror who has been selected to serve as an alternate shall not be segregated from the regular panel except when the case is given to the regular panel for deliberation at which time such alternate juror may be dismissed from further service on said case or may remain in service under the direction of the court.
(P.A. 80-313, S. 41; P.A. 82-307, S. 5, 8; P.A. 00-116, S. 6; P.A. 12-5, S. 28.)
History: P.A. 82-307 amended Subsec. (a) by changing the number of alternate jurors from “one or two” to two “or more” and amended Subsec. (c) to reflect this change; P.A. 00-116 amended Subsec. (c) by making technical changes, by permitting alternate juror to become part of the deliberation and proceed with appropriate instructions from the court as though alternate juror was part of the regular panel when the trial or deliberation began, by providing if alternate juror becomes member of panel after deliberations began, the jury shall be instructed by the court that deliberations by the jury shall begin anew, and by adding provision allowing alternate juror to remain in service under the direction of the court during deliberation of regular panel; P.A. 12-5 amended Subsec. (a) to add provision re offense punishable by life imprisonment without possibility of release, effective April 25, 2012.
See Sec. 51-243 re alternate jurors in civil cases.
Cited. 190 C. 219; 195 C. 421; 200 C. 615; 209 C. 564; 223 C. 299; 226 C. 618; 233 C. 813.
Cited. 7 CA 503; 8 CA 158; 34 CA 58; judgment reversed, see 232 C. 537; 35 CA 541; 36 CA 631; 38 CA 231; 41 CA 831.
Subsec. (a):
Death penalty unconstitutional under Art. I, Secs. 8 and 9 of Connecticut Constitution. 318 C. 1.
Subsec. (c):
Cited. 199 C. 163; 216 C. 367; 231 C. 235. Statute requires alternate jurors to be dismissed after commencement of jury deliberations and substitution of alternate juror after commencement of deliberations is prohibited; substitution of alternate juror after commencement of deliberations in violation of statute is not harmless error. 254 C. 472. Statute now explicitly permits substitution of a juror after deliberations have begun. 257 C. 192. Process for selecting and dismissing alternate jurors, including under Subsec., does not implicate constitutional rights. 272 C. 432. Trial court could not reconsider its decision to dismiss juror once it had communicated its decision to her since such communication caused her to lose her status as a juror and she was no longer qualified to participate in the remainder of the proceedings. 303 C. 378.
Judgments of conviction reversed due to substitution of two nonjurors, formerly alternate jurors who were dismissed by trial court after deliberations had begun, for regular jurors in the jury by the trial court. 67 CA 734. Defendant's constitutional right to fair trial before jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community was not violated where trial court excused alternate juror for financial hardship after deliberations had begun. 110 CA 263. Section not violated when court, after learning that an unidentified and unauthorized person permitted sick juror to leave courthouse, excused such juror and replaced her with an alternate juror because, for purposes of section, such juror was not excused from jury service when unidentified person permitted her to leave, but after court heard from counsel and decided to replace her with an alternate juror. 166 CA 304. Trial court not obligated to state on the record the diagnosis or medical condition of a juror who has been excused, or describe such juror's current physical condition or detail what medical treatment or intervention was necessary. 168 CA 321.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
40
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1983–2021 · leading case:
State v. Murray, 757 A.2d 578 (Conn. 2000).
State v. Murray, 757 A.2d 578 (Conn. 2000).
· cites it 52× “The dispositive issues in this appeal are whether: (1) the trial court violated General Statutes § 54-82h (c) 2 when it substituted an alternate juror for a regular juror after deliberations had begun; and (2) such violation is subject to harmless error analysis.”
State v. Labrec, 854 A.2d 1 (Conn. 2004).
· cites it 21× “The defendant contends that the charge that was given violated General Statutes § 54-82h (c), 3 thereby depriving him of his con *551 stitutionally provided sixth amendment 4 right to a fair and impartial jury trial.”
State v. Williams, 645 A.2d 999 (Conn. 1994).
· cites it 15× “4 The principal issue *238 raised by the defendant is whether, after the jury had begun to deliberate, the trial court improperly permitted an alternate juror to replace an excused juror in violation of General Statutes § 54-82h (c).”
State v. Alston, 862 A.2d 817 (Conn. 2005).
· cites it 10× “The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On December 8,1999, the defendant was standing in the hallway of his apartment complex on the comer of Sherman Avenue and Elm Street in New Haven when Bobby Bloodworth, a fellow high school student, stopped by to visit…”
State v. Tarver, 141 A.3d 940 (Conn. App. Ct. 2016).
· cites it 16× “General Statutes § 54-82h (c) provides in relevant part: "If, at any time, any juror shall, for any reason, become unable to further perform the duty of a juror, the court may excuse such juror and, if any juror is so excused or dies, the court may order that an alternate juror…”
State v. Samuels, 871 A.2d 1005 (Conn. 2005).
· cites it 8× “C We now consider the defendant’s claim that the trial court improperly selected an alternate juror to replace an excused juror by order of selection and not by lot in violation of General Statutes § 54-82h (c). 18 To the extent that the defendant did not object at trial, he…”
State v. Esposito, 613 A.2d 242 (Conn. 1992).
· cites it 9× “General Statutes § 54-82h (c) provides in part: “If, at any time, any juror shall, for any reason, become unable to further perform his duty, the court may excuse him and, if any juror is so excused or dies, the court may order that an alternate juror who is designated by lot to…”
Williams v. Comm'r of Corr., 33 A.3d 883 (Conn. App. Ct. 2012).
· cites it 20× “In 1991, the petitioner was convicted, following a jury trial, of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a, attempt to commit assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-49 and 53a-59 (a) (1) and criminal possession of a pistol in violation of…”
State v. Elias V., 147 A.3d 1102 (Conn. App. Ct. 2016).
· cites it 7× “Alternatively, the defendant seeks reversal under the plain error doctrine, arguing that the trial court failed to "articulate sufficient facts to support the conclusion that the juror was no longer able to perform her duties due to her diagnosis," as required by General…”
Vazquez v. Comm'r of Corr., 17 A.3d 1089 (Conn. App. Ct. 2011).
· cites it 6× “*440 General Statutes § 54-82h (a) provides that when an accused is charged with a felony punishable by life imprisonment, such as murder in violation of § 53a-54a, and the court directs the selection of alternate jurors, defense counsel may exercise a total of eighteen…”
State v. Ross, 849 A.2d 648 (Conn. 2004).
· cites it 3× “” General Statutes § 54-82h (a) provides: “In any criminal prosecution to be tried to the juiy in the Superior Com! if it appears to the court that the trial is likely to be protracted, the court may, in its discretion, direct that, *228 after a jury has been selected, two or…”
State v. Figueroa, 777 A.2d 587 (Conn. 2001).
· cites it 5× “to 1999) § 54-82h (c) 6 requires a trial court to dismiss alternate jurors once deliberations have begun, and prohibits the trial court from substituting dismissed alternate jurors mid-deliberation.”
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