Thomas v. United States

BELSON, Associate Judge:

This appeal presents a novel question concerning a trial judge’s authority to direct a jury to resume its deliberations. Immediately after the foreperson had announced findings of not guilty as to three counts, and guilty as to one, but before any verdict was recorded, counsel for defendant asked, without limitation, for a poll of the jury. The responses of the first two jurors polled revealed confusion with respect to the verdict on the count on which the guilty verdict had been returned. We hold that under these circumstances the trial judge’s direction that the jury…