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Extracted Text (OCR)
Case 22-1426, Document 58_02/28/2023, 3475901, Page151 of 221
A-351
Case 1:20-cr-00330-AJN Document 653 Filed 04/01/22 Page 34 of 40
Circuit to affirm the district court’s order for a new penalty-phase hearing. Maxwell Br. at 33
(citing Sampson, 724 F.3d at 168).
The Defendant next relies on a state court case, State v. Afshar, 196 A.3d 93 (N.H. 2018),
in which a court granted a new trial in a child sexual assault case when a juror failed to disclose
that a babysitter sexually assaulted him when he was five or six years old. Maxwell Post-
Hearing Br. at 5; see also Maxwell Br. at 34. But that juror had previously reported an inability
to be impartial in another case involving sexual assault of a minor, and the court concluded that
there was “little in the way of logical explanation for how he could have differentiated between
the two cases.” 196 A.3d at 98. Such is not the case here.
Finally, in Burton v. Johnson, the Tenth Circuit concluded that a juror was impliedly
biased when she suffered an abusive relationship with her husband that was highly similar to that
of the defendant. 948 F.2d 1150, 1158-59 (10th Cir. 1991). However, not only had that juror
deliberately lied during voir dire about the experience, but she was also living in that abusive
situation during voir dire, the trial itself, and her post-verdict testimony to the court. /d.
Conversely, Juror 50 credibly testified that his abuse “happened so long ago” that it is not
something that he “think[s] about,” “it’s not part of who [he is].” Hearing Tr. at 47. And again,
the Court has not found that Juror 50 deliberately lied about his personal history.
The Defendant’s remaining arguments also fail to alter the Court’s conclusion that Juror
50 is not biased. The Defendant contends that Juror 50’s post-trial conduct—in particular, his
posts on social media and his decision to give interviews using his picture and first name—is
“strong evidence” of his bias because he was “not looking to avoid notice,” but rather to “soak
up his 15 minutes of fame.” Maxwell Post-Hearing Br. at 10-11. The Court disagrees that this
conduct reveals bias. Whether wise or foolish, the fact that a juror may give an interview
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Dates
Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00020977.jpg |
| File Size | 638.9 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.9% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,225 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 20:05:45.150995 |