Appellant McCowen Brief - Mass Cases

necessary "good cause," was reversible error. G.L. c. 234,
§Z6& Commonwealth v. Connor, supra.
In Connor, a deadlocked jury reported a lone
holdout would not further deliberate. Like this trial
court, the Connor court examined each member of the
panel and ordered the juror returned to deliberations.
Soon thereafter, the court received word the juror
remained uncooperative and removed him without further
hearing. This Court held that action comtituted
reversible error. The initial hearing here, ostensibly
based on Hicks's arrest but actually spawned by the
court's discovery that Huffman shared a child with the
likes of him, led to the same reversible error. The
trial court ignored McCowen's objections and this
Court's warning that "[tlhe discharge of a deliberating
juror is a sensitive undertaking and is fraught with
potential fox error. It is to be done only in special
circumstances, and with special precautions. Great care
must be taken to ensure that a lone dissenting juror is
not permitted to evade his responsibilities. " Connor,
392 Mass. at 843, citing United States v. Lamb, 529 F.2d
1153, 1156 (9th Cir. 1975)
This Court concluded the trial court "must: hold a
hearing adequate to determine whether there is good
cause to discharge a juror.'' Connor, 392 Mass. at 843-44
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