People v. Humphrey

Jury deliberations in the case at bar began at 2:50 p.m. on October 25, 1979. Slightly more than one hour later the jurors asked the following questions of the trial judge:

“Is there a legal reason why Howard could not testify in this trial?

Are transcripts available?”

To the first of these questions the trial judge responded that there was a legal reason why Howard did not testify. In response to the second question, the trial judge merely said “No.” Both of these answers were given outside the presence of and without consultation with the defendants, their counsel, or the prosecuting attorney.

T…