Commonwealth v. Rodriguez

After a joint jury trial in Superior Court, the defendants, Dorman Lopez and Isaac Rodriguez, were both found guilty of trafficking in cocaine in amounts exceeding 200 grams.2 On appeal, the defendants argue that the judge (1) improperly discharged juror thirteen, apparently a hold-out juror on a then-deadlocked jury, for comments that she made about other jurors while she was on a cellular telephone in the jury room; (2) failed to instruct the reconstituted jury properly on her reasons for the discharge of juror thirteen; and (3) conducted an incomplete voir dire of the jury regarding their…