State v. Nelson

The opinion of the court was delivered by

PAUL G. LEVY, J.A.D.

Defendant was convicted of armed robbery (N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1) and sentenced to a term of twenty years with ten years parole ineligibility. At trial, after several hours of deliberation, the jury returned a note to the trial judge indicating they were deadlocked. *563While giving only a modified “Allen charge,” permitted by the Supreme Court in State v. Czachor, 82 N.J. 392, 413 A.2d 593 (1980), the trial judge also essentially told the jury he would declare a mistrial if they did not reach a verdict within forty-five minutes. The judge…