State v. Fowler

COPELAND, Justice.

Defendant’s sole assignment of error concerns the inquiry made by the trial judge into the numerical division of the jurors on Friday afternoon. The record discloses that the jury retired sometime near midmorning on Friday, 4 November 1983. They deliberated until the lunch recess and resumed deliberations at 2:00 p.m., remaining in the jury room until late Friday afternoon.

At this point the trial judge called the jury back into the courtroom and inquired as to whether a verdict had been reached. The foreman indicated no verdict had been reached but did say that the jury was…