United States v. Glenn Dale Seawell

MERRILL, Circuit Judge:

The question presented is whether the giving of a second modified Allen charge,1 in response to a jury’s report of deadlock, has such coercive implications that it should, as a sound rule of practice, be prohibited. We conclude that it has.

Seawell was convicted for armed bank robbery and the use of a firearm hi its commission. He was found to be one of three masked robbers and, specifically, the one who guarded the front door of the bank during the robbery. His trial lasted four and one-half days, from Monday to Friday, in the course of which the jury heard the…