Bulls v. United States

FERREN, Associate Judge:

A jury convicted appellant of assault with a dangerous weapon, D.C.Code § 22-502 (1981), and the court sentenced him to 40 to 120 months’ imprisonment. He claims on appeal that the trial court erred in seating an alternate juror after the jury had retired to deliberate. We agree. On this record, moreover, we cannot say that the court’s error was not prejudicial. We therefore reverse appellant’s conviction and remand for a new trial. 1

I

In the early morning of September 24, 1982, the complainant, Anthony Moore, accompanied a friend to the 200 block of 37th Street, S.E.,…