Gardner v. Commonwealth

Opinion

KEENAN, J.

Michael J. Gardner was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced, in accordance with the jury’s verdict, to twenty-five years imprisonment. The issues presented in this appeal are: (1) whether the trial court erred in continuing to poll the jury after one juror stated that he did not agree with the verdict; (2) whether the trial court erred in giving the jury the so-called “Allen”1 instruction after the poll revealed the identity of the lone dissenting juror; (3) whether the content of the instruction improperly emphasized the jurors’ duty to agree; (4) whether the court…