State v. Trelon Baker, 832 S.E.2d 873

Baker was tried and convicted by a jury on armed robbery, aggravated assault, and related firearm offenses; the jury began deliberations and sent notes indicating deadlock and that one juror would not communicate.
The bailiff overheard a heated, apparently personal argument; jurors later reported that one juror had "stonewalled" discussion and had slept during trial.
The trial court questioned only the foreperson, then granted the State's motion to excuse the complained-of juror and replace her with an alternate without bringing the juror into court for direct questioning; defense counsel objected.
The jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict; at the motion for new trial hearing the dismissed juror testified she is from Ghana, a former police officer, denied sleeping (said she rested her eyes), and said she was repeatedly shut down and tried to participate.
The trial court granted the new-trial motion, concluding it erred by dismissing a juror after deliberations had begun without directly confronting the juror about alleged sleeping or failure to deliberate.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred in granting a new trial because it relied on federal case law and should have deferred to OCGA and observed conduct	State: No error; dismissal was supported by observed sleeping/stonewalling and federal case law reliance was improper	Baker: Court should have questioned the juror directly before dismissal; reliance on foreperson statements was insufficient	Held: Affirmed trial court; Georgia law requires an informed exercise of discretion — dismissal after deliberations began without direct inquiry was error and supported new trial
Whether Baker invited any error by encouraging dismissal	State: Defense urged dismissal and therefore waived/ invited any error	Baker: Counsel suggested questioning the juror and objected when court removed her without inquiry	Held: Baker did not invite or waive the error; counsel did not request dismissal without prior questioning

Green v. Zant, 715 F.2d 551 (11th Cir. 1983) (trial court must adequately investigate before discharging a juror during deliberations)
Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510 (1968) (cannot exclude jurors for general objections to death penalty)
Semega v. State, 302 Ga. App. 879 (2010) (removal of juror requires an informed exercise of discretion; heightened need for investigation once deliberations begin)
Gibson v. State, 290 Ga. 6 (2011) (judge properly inquired into juror sleeping before removal)
State v. Tunkara, 298 Ga. 488 (2016) (trial judge has broad discretion on motions for new trial)