People v. Bigio Rodríguez
People v. Bigio Rodríguez
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Pablo Bigio Rodriguez was found guilty of contempt by the three judges of the District Court of San Juan sitting in hank.
Bigio, by his contumacious conduct as a juror in a criminal case, had prevented a conviction. The gist of the charge was that by deceit, concealment, and false statements made in answer to questions put to him as a talesman on his voir dire he had obtained his seat in the jury box for the deliberate purpose of obstructing the cause of justice. For further details see Bigio v. District Court of San Juan, 46 P.R.R. 433.
There is but one assignment of error in proper form. It is that the district court erred in weighing the evidence. "We have carefully examined the evidence in the light of appellant’s argument and do not find any such manifest error in the weighing thereof as to require a reversal.
In appellant’s brief after a discussion of the evidence under the heading “Questions of Fact” comes another heading “Errors of Law.” Here we find, although not separately stated, a number of specifications: One is that the district
The complaint does not charge that the statements attributed to Bigio by the witnesses Bird, Esquilin, and Somohano were made in the jury room. The language of the complaint' is “in the course of the deliberations.” The complaint might
Appellant’s position under the second of this group of errors is that no juror should be permitted to testify as to what may have occurred in the jury room. This question was discussed and disposal of in Bigio v. District Court, supra. The district court in a statement of the case and judgment said that it had overruled certain objections because in its opinion the prosecution had established a prima facie case sufficient to warrant the court in admitting evidence as to what, had occurred during the deliberations of the jury. Appellant does not discuss the sufficiency of the showing made by the district attorney before the witness, Bird, or any other witness, was permitted to testify as to what occurred in the jury room. As a matter of fact, if the district court overruled any objection by defendant to questions asked by the district attorney whil§ Bird was on the stand as to what occurred in the jury room, it has escaped our attention.
Technically, the question raised by the motion for nonsuit disappeared after the introduction of defendant’s evidence. There is always a possibility that any deficiency in the evidence for the prosecution may have been supplied by the evidence for the defense. Hence, after the close of the trial, if defendant has introduced any evidence, the question is as to the sufficiency of the evidence as a whole. If, however, it clearly appeared that the motion for nonsuit should have been granted and if it further appeared that defendant had not supplied the deficiency by his own evidence, we would not be disposed to affirm the judgment appealed from on technical grounds.
The judgment appealed from must he affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.