Tracy Napier v. Commonwealth, COA, 2012-CA-1672, Rendered 8/15/14, reversed and remanded, to be
published –
Mr. Napier was convicted of First-Degree Assault for shooting Carl
Holbrook after a confrontation on Mr. Napier’s driveway. The Court of Appeals
reversed for a new trial because the trial court allowed the jury to rehear a
police interview with Paul Wooten, Holbrook’s cousin, who was present when the
shooting occurred.
Palpable error occurred because the trial court allowed the
jury to rehear the interview using the prosecutor’s “unclean” laptop in the
privacy of the deliberation room. “Unclean” in this case means not restricting
the jury from the accessing the prosecutor’s laptop data, including data
related to the in-progress trial, not admonishing the jury not to access the
information, and not prohibiting internet access.
Robert Yang represented Mr.
Napier on appeal.
