Connecticut General Statutes
Chapter 961 - Trial and Proceedings after Conviction
Section 54-82h. - Alternate jurors in criminal cases. Peremptory challenges.

(a) In any criminal prosecution to be tried to the jury in the Superior Court if it appears to the court that the trial is likely to be protracted, the court may, in its discretion, direct that, after a jury has been selected, two or more additional jurors shall be added to the jury panel, to be known as “alternate jurors”. Such alternate jurors shall have the same qualifications and be selected and subject to examination and challenge in the same manner and to the same extent as the jurors constituting the regular panel, provided, in any case when the court directs the selection of alternate jurors, the number of peremptory challenges allowed shall be as follows: In any criminal prosecution the state and the accused may each peremptorily challenge thirty jurors if the offense for which the accused is arraigned is punishable by death or life imprisonment without the possibility of release, eighteen jurors if the offense is punishable by life imprisonment, eight jurors if the offense is punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and for less than life, and four jurors in any other case.

(b) Alternate jurors shall be sworn separately from those constituting the regular panel, and the oaths to be administered shall be as provided in section 1-25.
(c) Alternate jurors shall attend at all times upon trial of the cause. They shall be seated when the case is on trial with or near the jurors constituting the regular panel, with equal opportunity to see and hear all matters adduced in the trial of the case. If, at any time, any juror shall, for any reason, become unable to further perform the duty of a juror, the court may excuse such juror and, if any juror is so excused or dies, the court may order that an alternate juror who is designated by lot to be drawn by the clerk shall become a part of the regular panel and the trial or deliberation shall then proceed with appropriate instructions from the court as though such juror had been a member of the regular panel from the time when the trial or deliberation began. If the alternate juror becomes a member of the regular panel after deliberations began, the jury shall be instructed by the court that deliberations by the jury shall begin anew. A juror who has been selected to serve as an alternate shall not be segregated from the regular panel except when the case is given to the regular panel for deliberation at which time such alternate juror may be dismissed from further service on said case or may remain in service under the direction of the court.
(P.A. 80-313, S. 41; P.A. 82-307, S. 5, 8; P.A. 00-116, S. 6; P.A. 12-5, S. 28.)
History: P.A. 82-307 amended Subsec. (a) by changing the number of alternate jurors from “one or two” to two “or more” and amended Subsec. (c) to reflect this change; P.A. 00-116 amended Subsec. (c) by making technical changes, by permitting alternate juror to become part of the deliberation and proceed with appropriate instructions from the court as though alternate juror was part of the regular panel when the trial or deliberation began, by providing if alternate juror becomes member of panel after deliberations began, the jury shall be instructed by the court that deliberations by the jury shall begin anew, and by adding provision allowing alternate juror to remain in service under the direction of the court during deliberation of regular panel; P.A. 12-5 amended Subsec. (a) to add provision re offense punishable by life imprisonment without possibility of release, effective April 25, 2012.
See Sec. 51-243 re alternate jurors in civil cases.
Cited. 190 C. 219; 195 C. 421; 200 C. 615; 209 C. 564; 223 C. 299; 226 C. 618; 233 C. 813.
Cited. 7 CA 503; 8 CA 158; 34 CA 58; judgment reversed, see 232 C. 537; 35 CA 541; 36 CA 631; 38 CA 231; 41 CA 831.
Subsec. (a):
Death penalty unconstitutional under Art. I, Secs. 8 and 9 of Connecticut Constitution. 318 C. 1.
Subsec. (c):
Cited. 199 C. 163; 216 C. 367; 231 C. 235. Statute requires alternate jurors to be dismissed after commencement of jury deliberations and substitution of alternate juror after commencement of deliberations is prohibited; substitution of alternate juror after commencement of deliberations in violation of statute is not harmless error. 254 C. 472. Statute now explicitly permits substitution of a juror after deliberations have begun. 257 C. 192. Process for selecting and dismissing alternate jurors, including under Subsec., does not implicate constitutional rights. 272 C. 432. Trial court could not reconsider its decision to dismiss juror once it had communicated its decision to her since such communication caused her to lose her status as a juror and she was no longer qualified to participate in the remainder of the proceedings. 303 C. 378.
Judgments of conviction reversed due to substitution of two nonjurors, formerly alternate jurors who were dismissed by trial court after deliberations had begun, for regular jurors in the jury by the trial court. 67 CA 734. Defendant's constitutional right to fair trial before jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community was not violated where trial court excused alternate juror for financial hardship after deliberations had begun. 110 CA 263. Section not violated when court, after learning that an unidentified and unauthorized person permitted sick juror to leave courthouse, excused such juror and replaced her with an alternate juror because, for purposes of section, such juror was not excused from jury service when unidentified person permitted her to leave, but after court heard from counsel and decided to replace her with an alternate juror. 166 CA 304. Trial court not obligated to state on the record the diagnosis or medical condition of a juror who has been excused, or describe such juror's current physical condition or detail what medical treatment or intervention was necessary. 168 CA 321.

Structure Connecticut General Statutes