State v. Watkins

Defendant Donald Frank Watkins appeals a decision of the Court of Appeals affirming his conviction of one count of second degree assault.

This appeal presents a single issue: Did the trial court improperly coerce a verdict by giving a supplemental instruction after the jury informed the court it was deadlocked? We hold, after considering all the circumstances of this case, that the supplemental instruction was not improperly coercive. The instruction was merely a restatement of prior instructions to clarify an obvious ambiguity, and did not suggest to the jury the decision it ought to reach.

On…