Muncy v. Commonwealth
2008-CA-001814 11/20/09 2009 WL 3878086

Opinion by Judge VanMeter; Judge Nickell and Senior Judge Lambert concurred.

The Court affirmed a final judgment of the circuit court sentencing appellant to ten years’ imprisonment for two counts of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance. The Court held that appellant was not denied due process of law when the trial court permitted a detective who testified for the Commonwealth to assist in replaying portions of recordings during jury deliberations. The Court declined to extend the principle in Remmer v. United States, 347 U.S. 227, 74 S.Ct. 450, 98 L.Ed. 654 (1954), to the instant case as there was no private communication between the detective and the jury; rather, the communication took place in open court and in the presence of the entire jury, appellant, and his counsel.