Opinion ID: 2055865
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Psychological Coercion of the Jury

Text: The defendant contends that he has been deprived of a fair and impartial trial by jury guaranteed by the sixth and fourteenth amendments, inasmuch as various remarks made by the trial justice to the jury constituted prejudicial error. He first contends that it was error for the trial justice to call the jury to the courtroom after it had deliberated for nearly three days to give them the Boswell charge, so called. At that time the trial justice reminded the jury that it should attempt to reach a unanimous verdict without compromising any firm conviction as to guilt or innocence simply to join the others. The defendant objects specifically to his language suggesting: [J]uries almost always reach unanimity in fairly and open mindedly passing on the evidence. It must be obvious to you that the jury system just would not work otherwise    another jury at a future date will have to sit through another trial of these cases. I am sure no other jury to be selected in the future would be any better qualified to hear and decide the cases than you are. They have been exhaustively tried over a period of several weeks. Another trial would entail additional heavy expense upon both the state and the defendants. This is essentially the same language which in State v. Boswell, 73 R.I. 358, 366, 56 A.2d 196, 200 (1947), we held was the means by which the trial justice    asked the jury to continue consideration of the case and advised them to try for an agreement through the process of fair discussion and dispassionate reasoning. The defendant compares this language to that of the Allen charge, so called, which was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in Allen v. United States, 164 U.S. 492, 17 S.Ct. 154, 41 L.Ed. 528 (1896), but which has been criticized of late. See, e.g., Thaggard v. United States, 354 F.2d 735, 739 (5th Cir. 1965) (concurring opinion); State v. Thomas, 86 Ariz. 161, 342 P.2d 197 (1959); State v. Randall, 137 Mont. 534, 353 P.2d 1054 (1960); A.B.A. Project on Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice, Trial by Jury, § 5.4 (b) and Comment (approved draft 1968). He suggests that the language used by the trial justice in this case was more prejudicial than that of Allen and its progeny. [8] The most frequent criticism of the Allen charge is directed toward the fact that a juror who holds a minority position is directed to question his own thinking simply because several of his fellow jurors have reached a contrary conclusion. It has been contended that such a direction adds unjustified weight to the majority view on a divided jury without suggesting that those in the majority should also re-evaluate the strength of the minority view. United States v. Fioravanti, 412 F.2d 407, 417 (3d Cir.1969). In the instant case the trial justice made no reference whatever to the minority but simply encouraged all jurors to make an effort to reach unanimity. In doing so, he exercised an abundance of caution in advising the jurors not to abandon conscientiously held views simply to accommodate others. For this reason we are unable to conclude that the trial justice abused his discretion in recalling the jury as he did. It is our opinion that this case demonstrates the need for a solution to forestall continued litigation over the validity of the Allen charge. Such a solution, in our opinion, is to be found in the A.B.A. Project on Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice, Trial by Jury, § 5.4 (a) and (b) (approved draft 1968). That section provides that before deliberation the court may instruct the jury: (1) that in order to return a verdict, each juror must agree thereto; (2) that jurors have a duty to consult with one another and to deliberate with a view to reaching an agreement, if it can be done without violence to individual judgment; (3) that each juror must decide the case for himself, but only after an impartial consideration of the evidence with his fellow jurors; (4) that in the course of deliberations, a juror should not hesitate to re-examine his own views and change his opinion if convinced it is erroneous; and (5) that no juror should surrender his honest conviction as to the weight or effect of the evidence solely because of the opinion of his fellow jurors, or for the mere purpose of returning a verdict. In an effort to alleviate possible interference with the deliberation of jurors, § 5.4(b) provides that when, in the exercise of his discretion, the trial justice concludes that it is necessary to recharge the jury under circumstances like those presented by the instant case, he may do nothing more than repeat those instructions set out in subsection (a). Without intending to limit the discretion of the trial justice in the matter of instructing jurors as to their duty to seek verdicts in criminal trials, we suggest that consideration be given to compliance with the provisions of § 5.4(a) and (b). Further, defendant alleges prejudice in the charge, inasmuch as the trial justice fixed a specific period of time in which the jury could continue its deliberations. [9] There is authority which provides that a fixed period for deliberation by the jury is coercive in that it places pressure upon the members of the jury to reach a decision before a fixed deadline. Goff v. United States, 446 F.2d 623 (10th Cir.1971); Burroughs v. United States, 365 F.2d 431 (10th Cir. 1966). However, in both Goff and Burroughs the jury had returned guilty verdicts within the time period set and, having concluded that that verdict may have been prompted by a desire to reach a decision within the period fixed by the trial justice, the court in each case reversed the guilty verdict. The dialogue between the trial justice and jury in this case set out in note 9, supra, clearly indicates that the trial justice's action in fixing the period for continued deliberation did not prompt a verdict of any kind. All of the verdicts which were finally returned had been determined, according to the foreman's answers, before the trial justice set a time limit on the deliberations. Therefore, there is no justification in suggesting that the time limitation prompted the guilty verdict which is now before us under this bill of exceptions.