State v. Boling

¶1

Sweeney, J.

—A trial judge’s decision to grant a new trial is entitled to great deference by this court. Here, the judge granted a new trial in a manslaughter case. A juror confessed that he injected the results of his independent Internet research on the cause of death into the jury deliberations. The trial judge could not rule out that this unproven cause of death (unrelated to and unsupported by any evidence) influenced the finding of guilt here and granted a new trial. That was a proper exercise of discretion, and we affirm.

FACTS

¶2 Brent W. Boling and Shaun Sager were friends. Mr. Sager…