Fain v. People

T1 In this case and two companion cases decided today, Gibbons v. People, 2014 CO 67, 328 P.3d 95, and Martin v. People, 2014 CO 68, 329 P.3d 247, we consider whether a trial court must inform a jury that a mistrial will be declared if it cannot reach a unanimous verdict when giving a modified-A4llen instruction.

12 A modified-Allen instruction is a supplemental jury instruction designed to encourage, but not coerce, a deadlocked jury into reaching a unanimous verdict. To accomplish this, the instruction informs the jury that it should attempt to reach a unanimous verdict; that each juror…