Arnett v. State

The safe practice in felony trials is not to permit the jury to depart from the presence of the court even on adjournment unless attended by a sworn officer, and not to permit them to separate even then. Robbins v. State, 49 Ala. 394; Williams v. State, 45 Ala. 57; Bell v. State, 140 Ala. 57, 37 So. 281; 16 Corpus Juris, 1078.

But such separation pending a trial is said to be not necessarily ground for a new trial, but is sufficient to show a prima facie right to it, and the burden is upon the state, after such separation is shown, to prove that the jurors conversed with no one affecting the…