People v. Mejias

Chief Judge Lippman (dissenting).

After the evidentiary portion of the trial had concluded, but before closing arguments and the court’s charge—which is to say, before jury deliberations were to commence—a note written by juror 11 was handed up to the bench via juror 10. The note read, “We want to know how/when and under what pretext [a codefendant] met Miguel Mejias.” After sharing the note with counsel, the court expressed the view that a response was not necessary since the jury had been repeatedly instructed that they were to base their verdict only on the evidence that was introduced. The…