Ex Parte Morris

We granted certiorari on the single issue of whether the trial judge's jury instructions amounted to coercion of a verdict.

Petitioner Morris was indicted, by separate indictments, on several charges of embezzlement. After trial on the first indictment, she was acquitted. After a jury trial on the second indictment, however, she was found guilty and sentenced to two years in the state penitentiary. That judgment was affirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeals, Morris v. State, 465 So.2d 1173 (Ala.Cr.App. 1984), which found, specifically, that the trial court had not coerced a verdict from the…