Albert Johnson, Petitioner v. Ryan Lee Schonlaw and Vcg Restaurants Denver, Inc., D/b/a Pt's All Nude, a Colorado…

Summary

The court held that allowing an alternate juror to participate fully in civil jury deliberations without all parties’ agreement was trial error, but the error was subject to harmless-error review rather than a presumption of prejudice. Because the alternate was indistinguishable from the other jurors and the error did not substantially influence the verdict or affect the defendants’ substantial rights, the court reversed the court of appeals and remanded. Justice Gabriel, joined by Justice Hood, dissented, arguing that the error was incapable of harmless-error review and required a rebuttable presumption of prejudice.