Does Any Receipt by Jurors of Prejudicial Nonrecord Information Constitute An Overt Act Subject to Judicial Inquiry ?

In Sentinel Communications Co. v. Watson, 615 So. 2d 768 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993), the court recognized that an allegation that jurors read newspapers contrary to court orders did not inhere in the verdict. See id. at 772. Indeed, the Court has stated that any receipt by jurors of prejudicial nonrecord information constitutes an overt act subject to judicial inquiry. See Baptist Hospital, 579 So. 2d at 100-01. Thus, it would appear that the trial court erred in concluding that Marshall's allegations of juror misconduct inhered in the verdict. See: Roland v. State, 584 So. 2d 68, 70 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) (finding that motion supported by sworn affidavit of third party indicating that alternate juror had a predisposition to find defendant guilty for matters unrelated to trial warranted juror interviews). Cf. Preast v. Amica Mutual Ins. Co., 483 So. 2d 83, 85 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986) (stating that although appellees supported their motion by a hearsay affidavit of a third party, i.e., a juror's sister, they had satisfied the threshold requirement of Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.431(g)), disapproved of on other grounds by Baptist Hosp. of Miami, Inc. v. Maler, 579 So. 2d 97, 101 n.2 (Fla. 1991).