Crossland v. Commonwealth

Opinion of the Court by

Chief Justice MINTON.

I. INTRODUCTION.

Shortly after submitting this case to the jury, the trial court excused one of the jurors and replaced him with a discharged alternate juror, who was apparently located and returned to the courthouse. Such a post-submission substitution of jurors is reversible error under current Kentucky precedent if the error is preserved. 1 By contrast, we held in an unpublished ease that such a post-submission substitution did not require reversal if the error is unpreserved. 2 Having re-examined the post-submission juror substitution issue in…