Givens v. State

which Adkins and Battaglia, JJ., join.

I respectfully dissent.

*488The long standing rule has been that generally a jury verdict defective in form or substance should not be accepted by the trial judge. Heinze v. State, 184 Md. 613, 617, 42 A.2d 128, 130 (1945). In Heinze, this Court explained the policy behind the rule:

It is essential for the prompt and efficient administration of justice to prevent defective verdicts from being entered upon the records of the court as well as to ascertain the real intention of the jury in their finding. Where a verdict is ambiguous, inconsistent, unresponsive, or…