What is the current state of the law in the context of jury deliberations?

Protecting the deliberative process requires not only a vigilant watch against external threats to juror secrecy, but also strict limitations on intrusions from those who participate in the trial process itself, including counsel and the presiding judge. A court must limit its own inquiries of jurors once deliberations have begun. As the district court observed in the instant case, the very act of judicial investigation can at times be expected to foment discord among jurors. See supra pp. 610-11. In particular, a presiding judge is limited in the extent to which he may investigate the reasons underlying a juror's position on the merits of a case. United States v. Brown, 823 F.2d 591, 596 (D.C.Cir.1987) ("[A] court may not delve deeply into a juror's motivations because it may not intrude on the secrecy of the jury's deliberations."). The mental processes of a deliberating juror with respect to the merits of the case at hand must remain largely beyond examination and second-guessing, shielded from scrutiny by the court as much as from the eyes and ears of the parties and the public. Were a district judge permitted to conduct intrusive inquiries into--and make extensive findings of fact concerning--the reasoning behind a juror's view of the case, or the particulars of a juror's (likely imperfect) understanding or interpretation of the law as stated by the judge, this would not only seriously breach the principle of the secrecy of jury deliberations, but it would invite trial judges to second-guess and influence the work of the jury.