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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document643_ Filed 03/11/22 Page 13 of 49
original). “The ultimate test on a Rule 33 motion is whether letting a guilty verdict stand would
be a manifest injustice.” Ferguson, 246 F.3d at 134.
Courts strongly disfavor post-verdict inquiries into juror conduct. As the Supreme Court
explained: “Allegations of juror misconduct, incompetency, or inattentiveness, raised for the first
time . . . after the verdict, seriously disrupt the finality of the process. Moreover, full and frank
discussion in the jury room, jurors’ willingness to return an unpopular verdict, and the
community’s trust in a system that relies on the decisions of laypeople would all be undermined
by a barrage of post-verdict scrutiny of juror conduct.” Yanner v. United States, 483 U.S. 107,
120-21 (1987) (citations omitted). The Second Circuit has cautioned that “post-verdict inquiries
may lead to evil consequences: subjecting juries to harassment, inhibiting juryroom deliberation,
burdening courts with meritless applications, increasing temptation for jury tampering and creating
uncertainty in jury verdicts.” Janniello, 866 F.2d at 543.
A defendant seeking Rule 33 relief based on alleged juror misrepresentations during voir
dire must satisfy a two-part test: “a party must first demonstrate that a juror failed to answer
honestly a material question on voir dire, and then further show that a correct response would have
provided a valid basis for a challenge for cause.” McDonough Power Equip., Inc. v. Greenwood,
464 U.S. 548, 556 (1984). The Second Circuit has held that these two requirements are
conjunctive: “in order to obtain a new trial, a defendant must show both that a juror gave a
dishonest answer, and that the correct answer would have provided a basis for the defendant to
challenge the juror for cause.” Shaoul, 41 F.3d at 816 (emphasis in original). The first prong
requires a deliberate misconduct, not an honest mistake. See id.; see also Part II.B.1.a, infra. The
second prong requires the Court to determine whether, if the juror had answered truthfully, it would
have granted a hypothetical strike for cause. See United States v. Stewart, 433 F.3d 273, 304 (2d
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| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00009811.jpg |
| File Size | 739.0 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.2% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,216 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 17:50:35.143683 |