State v. Gresham

BRANCH, Justice.

The single question presented by this appeal is whether the trial judge’s additional instructions coerced the verdict of the jury.

The jurors returned to the courtroom about one hour after the case had been submitted to them and through their foreman indicated that they had been unable to reach a unanimous verdict and that the numerical division among the jurors was ten to two. At that time, the trial judge charged:

Court: Be seated, please. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I presume that the twelve of you realize what a disagreement means. In the Court’s opinion you have not…