Discharging Juror Without Investigation

It is clear that any investigation into juror misconduct "should be complete enough to determine 'good cause.' " (People v. McNeal (1979) 90 Cal. App. 3d 830, 837, 153 Cal. Rptr. 706; see People v. Keenan, supra, 46 Cal. 3d 478, 532; People v. Burgener, supra, 41 Cal. 3d 505, 519-520.) Indeed, failure to conduct an inquiry sufficient to the occasion is an abuse of discretion. ( People v. Keenan, supra, 46 Cal. 3d 478, 532; People v. Burgener, supra, 41 Cal. 3d 505, 519-520.) Thus, in People v. Castorena, supra, 47 Cal. App. 4th 1051, 1064, the trial court abused its discretion by discharging a holdout juror, without conducting further investigation, after seven or eight jurors reported that the holdout was failing to deliberate, but the holdout submitted her own lengthy written account of the deliberations. (See also People v. McNeal, supra, 90 Cal. App. 3d 830, 839 [trial court conducted inadequate investigation into indications that a juror had personal knowledge bearing on the matters in issue; "Once a court is put on notice of the possibility that improper or external influences are being brought to bear on a juror, it is the court's duty to make whatever inquiry is reasonably necessary to determine if the juror should be discharged and whether the impartiality of other jurors has been affected"].)