State v. Linton

¶1 Roy Bernard Linton was charged with first degree assault. A jury convicted him of second degree assault based on an instruction directing it to consider the lesser included offense of second degree assault if it acquitted Linton of first degree assault, or if it was unable to agree on that charge. At the prosecutor’s request, the trial judge asked the jury whether it was able to reach a verdict as to first degree assault and whether it would be able to do so with additional time. After the jury indicated that it would not be able to come to a unanimous verdict, the trial court declared the…