Van Dyke v. United States

REID, Associate Judge, Retired:

Appellant, Tracy Van Dyke, was indicted for second-degree murder while armed 1 and a jury convicted him of the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter while armed. The charge arose from an altercation between Mr. Van Dyke and the decedent, Daniel Baldwin. He argues for reversal on the grounds that the trial court: (1) abused its discretion by instructing the jurors to continue to deliberate, in response to their initial note stating they were deadlocked; (2) committed constitutional error when it communicated ex parte with the jury; and (3) erred by…