Page 10 - The People of the State of New York v. M. Robert Neulander - Brief for Amicus Curiae in Support of Defendant-Respondent

I.

accept it.
element of

preservation of

U.S. 648, 668 (1987).
a fair trial:

a fair trial -

the most
ABOUT HAVING DONE SO -
5

REQUIRED AS A MATTER OF LAW
ARGUMENT
fundamental of
all
"The constitutional guarantee of

freedoms -
AND A NEW TRIAL IS
CUMULATIVE MISCONDUCT THAT VIOLATES THE
AN IMPARTIAL JURY WHEN A JUROR ENGAGES IN
due process of
law
COURT'S INSTRUCTIONS, AND THEN LIES UNDER OATH
must be
The Sixth Amendment guarantees a criminal defendant "a right to an
maintained at all costs," Estes v. Texas, 381 U.S. 532, 540 (1965) (emphasis
A DEFENDANT IS DEPRIVED OF THE RIGHT TO TRIAL BY
This Court has similarly recognized that an impartial jury is an essential
its infraction "can never be treated as harmless error," Gray v. Mississippi, 481
provides criminal defendants with 'the fundamental right to a fair trial,"' which
Indeed, the Supreme Court has "always held that the atmosphere essential to the
evidence, is so demonstrably lacking in credibility that the court cannot properly
added), and that the "right to an impartial adjudicator" is.so basic to a fair trial that
impartial jury," U.S. Const. Amend. VI., as does N.Y. Civ. Rights Law Art. 2 § 12.