Opinion ID: 2389679
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: entering a verdict

Text: As an initial matter, the court has examined the question of how it should treat the post-trial disclosure of the foreperson and the vote sheet which she proffered. As discussed below, a rule of this court and the case law interpreting the rule make clear that the statements of the foreperson and the vote sheet are not the equivalent of a verdict. Thus, the court cannot simply enter a verdict of not guilty, as defendant requests. The question of whether a verdict of not guilty on first degree murder could now be entered is governed by Rule 31(a) of the Superior Court Rules of Criminal Procedure. That rule provides that verdicts shall be returned by the jury to the judge in open court. Super.Ct.Crim.R. 31(a). Furthermore, Rule 31(d) provides for a poll of the jury after the verdict is returned but before it is recorded. If the poll indicates that there is not unanimous concurrence, the jury may be directed to retire for further deliberations or may be discharged. Super.Ct.Crim.R. 31(d). Thus, Rule 31(d) demonstrates that up until the time that the poll is actually complete, any juror has the opportunity to change his or her mind. Accordingly, the language of Rule 31 makes clear that neither the statement of the foreperson nor the vote sheet proffered could be a verdict, because neither was announced or presented by the jury in open court, where the parties would have an opportunity to poll the jury. See Thomas v. United States, 544 A.2d 1260, 1261-64 (D.C.1988); Lewis v. United States, 466 A.2d 1234, 1238-39 (D.C.1983); Jones v. United States, 273 A.2d 842, 844 (D.C.1971); United States v. Love, 597 F.2d 81, 84 (6th Cir.1979). In any event, there is no reliable basis in the record for concluding that by the time of its discharge, the jury in this case had reached a final, unanimous decision to acquit the defendant on the charge of first degree murder. As the court noted in People v. Griffin, 66 Cal.2d 459, 58 Cal.Rptr. 107, 426 P.2d 507 (1967) when confronted with a similar situation, the vote, assuming its validity, may reflect that jurors favoring first degree murder over second degree murder were temporarily compromising in an effort to reach unanimity. Id. at 463, 58 Cal.Rptr. at 110, 426 P.2d at 510. The possibility that the vote reported by the foreperson was only a temporary compromise appears to be a substantial one in this case. After only three hours of deliberations, the foreperson reported that the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision. The next note from the foreperson, after the time the vote for acquittal on the first degree murder charge was reportedly taken, unequivocally stated that the jury could not reach a unanimous decision, repeated that no decision had been reached, and concluded it appears to be a useless case in terms of agreement. [4] This language is in direct conflict with the claim that the jury had reached a final, unanimous decision to acquit on the first degree murder charge. The last note is of the same nature and indicated that the jury still had not come to an agreement. This language, again, is inconsistent with the claim that the jury had reached a final, unanimous decision to acquit on the first degree murder charge. These notes, particularly the one submitted on the day the vote for acquittal was reportedly taken, strongly suggest that at the time the jury as a whole was communicating with the court through the foreperson's notes, the jury understood that the vote for acquittal on the first degree murder charge was not a final, unanimous vote. Indeed, the instructions of the court informed the jurors that their internal votes were not the final verdict. Under these circumstances, not only do the foreperson's representations after discharge not meet the plain standards for a verdict set out in Rule 31, they also do not meet the test articulated in Lewis v. United States, supra, 466 A.2d at 1238  that a verdict be certain, unqualified and unambiguous. Thus, for that additional reason, the court must deny defendant's request to enter a not guilty verdict on the first degree murder charge.