United States v. James Wilson, United States of America v. Charles Whittaker

These are appeals from judgments of conviction of armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, sentencing appellants to imprisonment for concurrent terms of five to fifteen years for the robbery and three to ten years on the assault count.. Appellants urge reversal on several grounds, including (1) that the trial court erred by adding certain statements to the standard “Allen” charge regarding the jury’s duty to reach a verdict, and (2) that this court, in the exercise of its supervisory power, should prohibit use of the Allen charge in this circuit altogether. Whether further use of the…