Jim Rosica
An appellate court on Wednesday granted a Walton County man’s request for a new trial on sex-crime charges because an alternate juror accidentally sat in on deliberations.
Riordan Boblitt, 25, had been charged with lewd or lascivious battery on a teen and attempted sexual battery, according to the decision.
A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal unanimously tossed the convictions and sentences, citing a string of rulings from 1974 to 2010.
“It is well settled that a defendant is entitled to a mistrial if an alternate juror is present for any part of jury deliberations, even if the alternate does not participate in the discussion,” the decision said.
Boblitt’s lawyer realized that Circuit Judge Frank Bell had mistaken the alternate member for the sixth juror and sent him into the jury room.
Afterward, under questioning, the alternate said “we didn’t even get that far” into deliberations. The man added that he did not talk but “just, kind of, listened in,” according to the decision.
Bell then denied the defense motion for a mistrial and ordered the intended juror into deliberations.
No can do, the court said.
“(W)hen the trial court, understandably trying to rectify the inadvertent error, pulled (the alternate) off the jury and replaced him with (the) already-dismissed juror, the ‘sanctity and secrecy of the jury room’ was compromised,” the decision said.
Appellate judges James R. Wolf, Simone Marstiller and Ronald V. Swanson reversed and remanded the case for a new trial.
Boblitt has been serving a 15-year sentence in Bay Correctional Facility, Department of Corrections records show.
