Flenteroy v. State

Before deliberations on guilt, the state asked the trial court to delete from the aggravated-robbery count the words “to wit: a screwdriver,” asserting that they were mere surplusage. The trial court refused the request. During deliberations, the jury sent out a note: “In the charge of Aggravated Robbery do we have to find that the deadly weapon used was the screwdriver entered in evidence in order to find that a deadly weapon was used?” The trial court did not answer the question, but instructed the jury to refer to the charge and to continue deliberating. The jury found appellant guilty of…