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2018 Georgia Code 15-12-171 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 15-12-171 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 15-12-171

TITLE 15 COURTS

Section 12. Juries, 15-12-1 through 15-12-172.

ARTICLE 5 TRIAL JURIES

15-12-171. Discharge or separate custody of alternate jurors upon submission of verdict.

Upon final submission of the case to the jury, the alternate jurors shall not retire with the jury of 12 for deliberation but may be discharged. However, if the court deems it advisable, it may direct that one or more of the alternate jurors be kept in the custody of the sheriff or one or more court officers, separate and apart from the regular jurors, until the jury has agreed upon a verdict.

(Ga. L. 1957, p. 466, § 4; Ga. L. 1968, p. 1225, § 4.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

It is error to allow alternate juror to retire with other jurors for deliberations over defense counsel's objections. Bullock v. State, 150 Ga. App. 824, 258 S.E.2d 610 (1979).

Presence of alternate juror harmless.

- Presence of alternate juror in jury room during deliberations was harmless error since the alternate juror did not influence any juror, or the verdict of the entire jury. State v. Newsome, 259 Ga. 187, 378 S.E.2d 125 (1989).

Objection to presence of alternate waived.

- In a prosecution for kidnapping with bodily injury and aggravated assault in which an alternate juror had been present in the jury room during deliberations, contrary to O.C.G.A. § 15-12-171, but no verdict had been reached and the alternate had been removed, the defendant's agreement to allow jury deliberations to proceed waived any claim of error. Nelson v. State, 278 Ga. App. 548, 629 S.E.2d 410 (2006).

In the defendants' murder trial, although it was error for the alternate jurors to be allowed to retire with the other jurors during deliberations, O.C.G.A. § 15-12-171, the defendants agreed to allow this procedure, and no harm was shown based on the affidavits of all 12 jurors and the alternates that the alternates did not participate in deliberating. Eller v. State, 303 Ga. 373, 811 S.E.2d 299 (2018).

Replacement of regular juror with alternate harmless error.

- Replacement of a regular juror with an alternate juror during jury deliberations, due to an innocent error by the jurors as to who was the regular juror and who was the alternate, was harmless error since the correct number of jurors deliberated, and the extra juror had no influence upon the jury's decision. Ballentine v. State, 194 Ga. App. 560, 390 S.E.2d 887 (1990).

Death penalty jurors not excused following guilty verdict.

- There is no requirement that alternate jurors in a death penalty case be excused once the jury has rendered a verdict as to guilt, and no need to keep the jurors separate when the jury is not deliberating. Lonchar v. State, 258 Ga. 447, 369 S.E.2d 749 (1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1019, 109 S. Ct. 818, 102 L. Ed. 2d 808 (1989).

Waiver to alternate's participation.

- Defense counsel's consent to the trial court's proposal that an alternate juror witness jury deliberations so that the alternate would be privy to the discussion in case a juror had to be excused, thereby avoiding the need to start deliberations anew with the alternate, waived any error that resulted. London v. State, 260 Ga. App. 780, 580 S.E.2d 686 (2003).

Trial court did not err in allowing an alternate juror to be present during, but not participate in, jury deliberations because in cases when defense counsel agreed to the alternate juror's presence during deliberations any error was waived. Chandler v. State, 309 Ga. App. 611, 710 S.E.2d 826 (2011).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 47 Am. Jur. 2d, Jury, § 129.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 15-12-171

Total Results: 8  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

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Devier v. State, 323 S.E.2d 150 (Ga. 1984).

Cited 86 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Nov 29, 1984 | 253 Ga. 604

...[2] Eight of the prospective jurors complained of in this enumeration were members of the alternate jury panel. One was selected as an alternate juror. However, none of the trial jurors became incapacitated, see OCGA § 15-12-172, and the alternate jurors therefore did not participate in the jury deliberations. See OCGA § 15-12-171....
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Eller v. State, 811 S.E.2d 299 (Ga. 2018).

Cited 30 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Mar 5, 2018

...rs to remain in the jury room during deliberations. Although we agree that it was error for the alternate jurors to be allowed to retire with the other jurors during deliberations, Appellants have not shown that they were harmed by this error. OCGA § 15-12-171 provides that upon final submission of the case to the jury "the alternate jurors shall not retire with the jury of 12 for deliberation," and if the court deems it advisable that one or more of the alternate jurors be kept available, the...
...at 782, 580 S.E.2d 686 ("[C]ounsel's consent to the arrangement waives the error."). We should be clear, however, that the trial court's action was inappropriate, and we do not approve of permitting alternate jurors to be present during deliberations. To do so is plainly contrary to Georgia law. See OCGA § 15-12-171. IV. Appellants next contend that their trial counsel were ineffective for acquiescing to the alternate jurors remaining with the jury during deliberations, failing to object to the medical examiner's expert testimony suggesting that t...
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Eller v. State, 303 Ga. 373 (Ga. 2018).

Cited 29 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Mar 5, 2018

...ain in the jury room during deliberations. Although we agree that it was error for the alternate jurors to be allowed to retire with the other jurors during deliberations, Appellants have not shown that they were harmed by this error. OCGA § 15-12-171 provides that upon final submission of the case to the jury “the alternate jurors shall not retire with the jury of 12 for deliberation,” and if the court deems it advisable that one or more of the alternate jurors be kept availab...
...at 782 (“[C]ounsel’s consent to the arrangement waives this error.”). We should be clear, however, that the trial court’s action was inappropriate, and we do not approve of permitting alternate jurors to be present during deliberations. To do so is plainly contrary to Georgia law. See OCGA § 15-12-171. IV. Appellants next contend that their trial counsel were ineffective for acquiescing to the alternate jurors remaining with the jury during deliberations, failing to object to the medical...
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Coley v. State, 827 S.E.2d 241 (Ga. 2019).

Cited 24 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Apr 15, 2019 | 305 Ga. 658

...Because Coley agreed to the alternate juror's presence *248in the jury room during deliberations, however, any error in this respect is waived. Under Georgia law, "[u]pon final submission of the case to the jury, the alternate jurors shall not retire with the jury of 12 for deliberation but may be discharged." OCGA § 15-12-171....
...replied, "No. He doesn't and I don't think I'll have an objection to that either." Because Coley ultimately agreed, without objection, to the alternate juror's presence in the jury room during deliberations, any error concerning a violation of OCGA § 15-12-171 is waived, and this enumeration therefore fails....
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Lonchar v. State, 369 S.E.2d 749 (Ga. 1988).

Cited 22 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jul 13, 1988 | 258 Ga. 447

...As provided by law, the alternate jurors were kept with the jury during the trial of the guilt phase of the case. OCGA § 15-12-170. When the case was presented to the jury for deliberation on the issue of guilt, the alternates were separated from the jury until the jury reached its verdict, as required by OCGA § 15-12-171....
...At no time during the actual deliberations were the alternate jurors with the jury. Especially in view of the trial court's many admonitions during the trial that the jurors should not discuss the case with each other nor begin deliberations until instructed to do so, no violation of OCGA § 15-12-171 has been shown....
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Lester v. State, 849 S.E.2d 425 (Ga. 2020).

Cited 13 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Oct 5, 2020 | 310 Ga. 81

...at 438, and Lester’s claims of error fail. 3. Lester argues that the trial court erred in denying his “motion for mistrial” after the parties and the trial court realized that an alternate juror inadvertently retired with the jury for deliberations in violation of OCGA § 15-12-171. Lester is correct that OCGA § 15-12-171 was violated here, but we nonetheless conclude that the State met its burden of showing that the alternate 17 juror’s presence during deliberations was harmless. After the verdicts were publi...
...And the trial court ruled on the issue by denying the motion for new trial. Under these circumstances, Lester’s alternate-juror claim has been preserved for our review, and we may evaluate it on the merits. (b) Lester argues that the presence of the alternate juror during deliberations violated OCGA § 15-12-171, resulting in a presumption of harm that the State cannot overcome because it was undisputed that the alternate remained with the jury throughout deliberations and that some jurors11 affirmed that the alternate participated in the deliberations by making comments or asking questions. Although we agree that the alternate’s presence during jury deliberations violated OCGA § 15-12-171, we conclude that the 11 Lester claims that “each juror affirmed (with the exception of two) that the alternate did, in fact, participate in deliberations,” but the record shows that only five jurors stated that the altern...
...23 State met its burden of rebutting the presumption of harm by showing that the alternate did not influence the jury’s verdicts, and that the trial court did not err by denying a motion for new trial on this basis. Under OCGA § 15-12-171, “[u]pon final submission of the case to the jury, the alternate jurors shall not retire with the jury of 12 for deliberation but may be discharged....
...Although an alternate’s participation in deliberations is one type of evidence — and potentially a significant type of evidence — that is relevant to the question of influence, it is not the only or ultimate evidence that a trial court should consider in evaluating whether a violation of OCGA § 15-12-171 was harmless....
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State v. Newsome, 378 S.E.2d 125 (Ga. 1989).

Cited 12 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Apr 14, 1989 | 259 Ga. 187

...deliberations, in fact could not speak, until and unless he was instructed by the court to the contrary. Newsome appealed his convictions contending the presence of the alternate juror during the jury's deliberations constituted a violation of OCGA § 15-12-171 which provides, in part: "the alternate jurors shall not retire with the jury of 12 for deliberation" and that such violation is presumptively injurious to him....
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Coley v. State, 305 Ga. 658 (Ga. 2019).

Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Apr 15, 2019

...ng deliberations, however, any error in this respect is waived. Under Georgia law, “[u]pon final submission of the case to the jury, the alternate jurors shall not retire with the jury of 12 for deliberation but may be discharged.” OCGA § 15-12-171....
...He doesn’t and I don’t think I’ll have an objection to that either.” Because Coley ultimately agreed, without objection, to the alternate juror’s presence in the jury room during deliberations, any error concerning a violation of OCGA § 15-12-171 is waived, and this enumeration therefore fails....