Titus v. State

OPINION

FABE, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

After a Fort Yukon jury convicted John Titus of first degree sexual assault, he moved for an evidentiary hearing to investigate potential jury misconduct. At the hearing, members of his jury testified that they had discussed matters not presented at trial, including the fact that Titus may have been drinking the night of the alleged rape. The superior court granted Titus a new trial because of this jury misconduct, but the court of appeals reversed. It ruled that Alaska Rule of Evidence 606(b) barred the superior court from accepting the jurors’ testimony…