State v. Blancaflor

¶1 “Fail[ure] to instruct the reconstituted jury on the record that it must disregard all prior deliberations and begin deliberations anew” is reversible error of constitutional magnitude.1 In such a case, the State has the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the error is harmless.2

¶2 Here, the trial court instructed the original 12 jurors to begin deliberations when they retired to the jury *219room. Thereafter, 1 of the original jurors was excused. After an alternate juror joined the remaining 11 original jurors, the court failed to instruct the reconstituted jury that it must…