Opinion ID: 1494252
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: jury instructions on unanimity

Text: In both the original sentencing instructions and the re-instruction by the trial judge after receipt of the jury note at 11:20 p.m., the trial court informed the jury your determination in Section V must be unanimous. Until all 12 of you agree on whether the answer is yes or no, do not go to Section VI. Although the parties approved the sentencing form prior to the trial judge's instruction of the jury, appellant now takes exception to the language requiring unanimity. Appellant argues that if a jury has deliberated for a significant period of time and requests guidance on how to proceed if the jury is not unanimous, the trial court should be required to instruct the jury that it may simply report its lack of unanimity to the court on the sentencing form. In sentencing proceedings for criminal acts where the State seeks imposition of the death penalty, [t]he determination of the court or jury shall be in writing, and, if a jury, shall be unanimous and shall be signed by the foreman. Maryland Code, Art. 27, § 413(i)(1957, 1996 Repl.Vol., 2000 Supp.). Section 413(k)(2) further provides, [i]f the jury, within a reasonable time, is not able to agree as to whether a sentence of death shall be imposed, the court may not impose a sentence of death. Determination of the reasonableness of the length of deliberations rests in the sound discretion of the trial court. See Booth, 327 Md. at 154, 608 A.2d at 167. Thus, [t]he Maryland trial judge presiding over a capital sentencing proceeding before a jury basically retains the traditional role of determining whether the jury is hung. Id. The trial court may consider the nature of the decision before the jury, and the length of the trial in determining whether the jury has exceeded a reasonable time for deliberations. See Colvin-el v. State, 332 Md. 144, 181-82, 630 A.2d 725, 744 (1993), cert. denied, 512 U.S. 1227, 114 S.Ct. 2725, 129 L.Ed.2d 849 (1994)(finding no error in the trial court's refusal to dismiss the jury and enter a sentence of life imprisonment after the jury sent note to the court requesting clarification on the need for unanimity on Sections IV and V of the verdict sheet following eleven and a half hours of deliberations over a two-day period). The jury in the instant case had deliberated approximately seven hours before submitting the note in question to the court at 11:20 p.m. Appellant asserts that instructing the jury in the midst of deliberations concerning the consequences of a jury's failure to render a unanimous decision does not present the same dangers as providing a similar instruction prior to deliberation where the court may fear that a juror might refrain from making a decision for a little more than a reasonable amount of time so as to prevent imposition of the death penalty, or in the converse, the jury may act hastily in deliberations without giving due consideration to the evidence in rushing towards a death sentence. In Calhoun v. State, 297 Md. 563, 468 A.2d 45 (1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 993, 104 S.Ct. 2374, 80 L.Ed.2d 846 (1984), we stated: Giving the instruction to the jury before deliberation could prompt someone to hold out for just a bit more than a reasonable time to insure that the death penalty was not imposed. It likewise could cause a jury to rush through its deliberations to avoid being called back by the court and told that because a reasonable time had passed without a verdict the sentence would be life imprisonment. Calhoun, 297 Md. at 595, 468 A.2d at 60; see also Ware v. State, 348 Md. 19, 58, 702 A.2d 699, 718 (1997), aff'd after remand, 360 Md. 650, 759 A.2d 764 (2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1115, 121 S.Ct. 864, 148 L.Ed.2d 776 (2001); Bruce v. State, 328 Md. 594, 622, 616 A.2d 392, 406 (1992), cert. denied, 508 U.S. 963, 113 S.Ct. 2936, 124 L.Ed.2d 686 (1993); Oken v. State, 327 Md. 628, 642-643, 612 A.2d 258, 265 (1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 931, 113 S.Ct. 1312, 122 L.Ed.2d 700 (1993); Grandison v. State, 305 Md. 685, 771, 506 A.2d 580, 623 (1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 873, 107 S.Ct. 38, 93 L.Ed.2d 174 (1986). The United States Supreme Court has declined to mandate that an instruction on the consequences of jury deadlock routinely be given in all capital cases, explaining, the Eighth Amendment does not require that the jurors be instructed as to the consequences of their failure to agree. Jones v. United States, 527 U.S. 373, 381, 119 S.Ct. 2090, 2098, 144 L.Ed.2d 370, 382, reh'g denied, 527 U.S. 1058, 120 S.Ct. 22, 144 L.Ed.2d 826 (1999). Unless and until the jury makes an unambiguous declaration that it is unable to come to a unanimous decision, the same dangers of undue jury influence as expressed in Calhoun and its progeny remain. The record indicates that the trial judge did not find a clear statement of deadlock from the jury; thus the situation did not warrant middeliberation instruction on the failure of unanimity. The jury presented the trial judge in the instant case with a note concerning the application of Sections V and VI of the sentencing form. The judge's discussion with counsel on the record following receipt of the jury note and his subsequent re-instruction of the jury shows that the judge perceived that the jury was seeking clarification, not that he perceived a jury deadlock. Where the trial judge has exercised discretion and found that the jury has not exceeded a reasonable amount of time in deliberations nor an inability to reach a unanimous decision, the court is not required to provide an instruction to the jury concerning imposition of a life sentence in lieu of death. After re-instruction, the jury returned to deliberate for approximately two hours before rendering a verdict. The jury unanimously found that the State had proven that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances, and unanimously determined the sentence to be death. Accordingly, we find no error in the trial court's failure upon receiving the 11:20 p.m. jury note to provide an instruction to the jury that it could report its lack of unanimity.