Rule 606 - Juror's Competency as a Witness(a)At the Trial. A juror may not testify as a witness before the other jurors at the trial . If a juror is called to testify, the court must give a party an opportunity to object outside the jury's presence.(b)During an Inquiry into the Validity of a Verdict or Indictment.(1)Prohibited Testimony or Other Evidence. During an inquiry into the validity of a verdict or indictment, a juror may not testify about any statement made or incident that occurred during the jury's deliberations ; the effect of anything on that juror's or another juror's vote; or any juror's mental processes concerning the verdict or indictment. The court may not receive a juror's affidavit or evidence of a juror's statement on these matters.(2)Exceptions. A juror may testify about whether: (A) extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jury's attention;(B) an outside influence was improperly brought to bear on any juror; or(C) a clerical mistake was made in entering the verdict on the verdict form.Amended November 28, 2017, effective 1/1/2018.Comment
This rule tracks F.R.E. 606.
Rule 606(b) modifies existing Delaware case law. See Watson v. State, Del. Supr., 184 A.2d 780 (1962).
The 2014 amendment to D.R.E. 606(b) adopts the exception in F.R.E. 606(b)(2)(C), which permits juror testimony in the event "a mistake was made in entering the verdict on the verdict form." The addition of "clerical" in D.R.E. 606(b)(2)(C) is intended to preclude any juror from impeaching his or her verdict by asserting that the entry of the verdict was contrary to the juror's original intention.
D.R.E. 606 was amended in 2017 in response to the 2011 restyling of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The amendment is intended to be stylistic only. There is no intent to change any result in ruling on evidence admissibility.