Opinion ID: 1932327
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Gender Confusion

Text: Probst alleges that the trial court's employment of masculine gender pronouns in, and the sequence of, the jury instructions mandate reversal of her convictions under the plain error standard of review. The State acknowledges that on several occasions the trial judge used masculine pronouns in the jury instructions when referring to Probst. However, the State argues that taking the instructions as a whole, it is clear that the masculine pronoun was obviously referring to Probst and not Miller. Given the deference that jurors give to any directive from a trial judge, we cannot assume that the jurors discounted the repeated use of masculine pronouns in the references to Probst and did not ascribe them to Miller. We need not, and indeed probably could not in each case, satisfy ourselves that the jury was in fact confused. United States v. Beros, 833 F.2d 455, 461 (3d Cir.1987) (emphasis in original). On appeal, our task is to determine in light of the allegations made whether the potential for juror confusion existed. We have reviewed the instructions in their entirety and conclude that the incorrect use of masculine gender pronouns in an accomplice liability instruction, where the alleged principal is a male and the alleged accomplice is a female, made it likely that the jury would be confused. We also find it likely that confusion might occur with regard to the felony weapon's charge by its placement following the instructions about Miller's possible justification for shooting. As a result of this placement, the jury may have been left with the impression that Probst was also charged with the weapon's offense as an accomplice when, in fact, she was only charged with this offense as a principal. Jury instructions must be adapted to the factual situation of each case. See Wiggins v. State, Del.Supr., 210 A.2d 314, 316 (1965); Bantum v. State, Del.Supr., 85 A.2d 741, 752 (1952). In any criminal case, it is the duty of the jury to examine facts and assign to or eliminate criminal responsibility for specific individuals. The applicable principles of law and the identity of the persons involved must not be confused. See Wiggins v. State, 210 A.2d at 316; Bantum v. State, 85 A.2d at 752. We are not free to hypothesize that the jury was in agreement on the court's instruction. Cf. United States v. Beros, 833 F.2d at 461. In considering the Probst jury instructions as a whole, we find that they failed to meet the reasonably informative and not misleading standard. Baker v. Reid, 57 A.2d at 109. See also Flamer v. State, 490 A.2d at 128. In particular, we cannot find that the errors or inadequacies of the instructions given were harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 23-26, 87 S.Ct. 824, 827-29, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967); United States v. Beros, 833 F.2d at 463. Therefore, Probst's convictions must be reversed.