State v. Ragland

The Court in this case sustains defendant’s claim that in the trial on the charge of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, the trial court, by referring the jury to its prior finding of possession, in effect directed the return of a guilty verdict, thereby denying defendant’s right to a jury trial through what amounts to an improper use of collateral estoppel. As a result, there must be a reversal of defendant’s conviction. I agree. In *214addition, as noted by the Court, the trial judge instructed the jury that “it must find [the defendant] guilty” if it determined beyond a reasonable…