Sanford v. State

I concur in all that is set forth in Judge Clark’s very cogent and persuasive dissent, and I wish to add these lines. There can be no doubt that every one of the jurors, being intelligent human beings, fully understood the pointed and damaging statement by the trial judge. The juror wished to know if the defendant had a prior record, and Judge Tanksley, in the presence of all twelve jurors, stated: "I cannot address you with regard to this in any way at this time. ’’(Emphasis supplied.) What intelligence did that transmit to the mind of each juror — that at some future time the judge could…