State v. Khalid Mohammed(075901)

In this appeal, we consider, for the first time, the proper procedures a trial court should follow when faced with an allega tion that a juror was inattentive during part of the trial. Here, the prosecutor claimed that a juror was sleeping during the judge’s pretrial instructions, which neither party identified as a consequential phase of the trial. The judge did not make a finding with respect to that allegation but said that he would repeat the instructions. At the end of the trial, without requesting that any action be taken by the judge, defense counsel alleged that the same juror was…