Reed v. State

A jury convicted Joseph Augustus Reed in Mobile County Circuit Court for the sale of cocaine, in violation of Code 1975, § 20-2-70. Reed was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years, but with one year to be served in a correctional facility and the balance suspended for five years, accompanied by formal probation. The trial court denied the defendant's motion for a new trial, which was premised, in part, on the misconduct of a juror who conducted a home experiment in order to test the credibility of certain evidence in the case. The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the defendant's conviction…