Pena-Rodriguez moved for a new trial based the information obtained in M.M. and L.T.\u2019s affidavits. The Colorado Court of Appeals was split. The Court found that CRE 606(b), in its application in Pena-Rodriguez\u2019s trial, was not unconstitutional. CRE 606(b) grants a broad protection to jury deliberations, and any statements or shared thoughts made during the process. However there are three exceptions, two of which apply to this case, according to the three Justices that wrote for the dissent: \u201c[A] juror may testify about (1) whether extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jurors\u2019 attention, and (2) whether any outside influence was improperly brought to bear upon any juror\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is it more important to protect jury deliberations, even if statements made could influence fellow jurors to the point of convicting a potentially innocent person solely based on ethnicity or skin color? Or, is an accused\u2019s Sixth Amendment right to a fair and impartial jury more important? SCOTUS will hear arguments on whether or not the trial court\u2019s application of CRE 606(b) was unconstitutional, and how, or if, it affected Pena-Rodriguez\u2019 Sixth Amendment right. As for now, jury deliberations remain secret. Come fall, however, SCOTUS may rule that inappropriate conduct in the jury room, may allow cases to be re-opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alex Gordon is a criminal defense attorney that has more than 16 years of experience representing people in Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and Prince William County. He has been practicing law for more than 20 years and is member of the Florida, Georgia, and the Virginia State Bar. The criminal defense lawyers of The Gordon Law Firm has helped more than 4500 people accused of criminal charges in Virginia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This spring, the United States Supreme Court is considering a case that may determine whether jury deliberations should remain secret, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,40,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-criminal-law","category-dui-lawyer","category-reckless-driving"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kazibari.com\/website_7dc4621b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Fixed-Pic-Alex-for-Verizon-5.2.07.jpg?resize=916%2C1024&ssl=1\")