State v. Werring

HAYS, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from a verdict and judgment of guilty of the crime of robbery and the resulting sentence of five to fifteen years in prison.

Since it is apparent that this case must be reversed, we will consider only the principal issue. For this purpose, the facts of the crime are irrelevant; it is the conduct of the judge to which our attention must be directed.

At the conclusion of the case, after the jury had been instructed and had been deliberating for about twenty minutes, the jurors sent to the courtroom a slip of paper containing three questions. The judge called…