State v. Lewis

VIGIL, Justice.

*278 {1} In this appeal we address two issues which arise when a jury is asked to render a verdict on a count that includes both greater and lesser offenses and it deadlocks in its deliberations on the greater offense. First, we clarify what is required of the district court under Rule 5-611(D) NMRA in polling the jury to determine on which offense the jury has deadlocked. We hold that a district court satisfies the requirements under Rule 5-611(D) when it has established a clear record as to which offense the jury is deadlocked. Strict compliance with the provisions of Rule…