Opinion ID: 1998644
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Jury's Verdicts Reflect Confusion

Text: The State accused Manlove of punching Slater in the face and stealing her puppy. The jury deliberated for some time before submitting its question to the trial judge. Shortly after receiving the supplemental instruction, the jury convicted Manlove of Robbery in the First Degree and acquitted him on the Assault charge. By failing to find Manlove guilty of Assault in the Third Degree, it is difficult to explain how the jury could have found Manlove guilty on the Robbery in the First Degree charge. The elements of Assault in the Third Degree, as provided in the jury's instructions, were subsumed within the elements of Robbery in the First Degree and were consistent with the State's theory against Manlove. If the jury believed that Manlove did not cause physical injury to Slater, the jury could not have found the third element of Robbery in the First Degree as provided in the jury instructions. The jury apparently did not find Slater's identification of Manlove as her assailant to be credible but the jury also apparently did not believe Manlove's statement to the police. This dilemma is the most logical explanation for why the jury asked the trial judge whether Manlove could be convicted of Robbery in the First Degree as an accessory. In fact, before responding to the jury's question, the following exchange took place: THE COURT: My suspicion is that the jury is questioning on the robbery count because the defendant is being accused of committing the robbery and there was another party in the car. They want to know whetherI suspect, whether Mr. Manlove is merely an accomplice, as opposed to the principal; I think that's why they're getting at that. PROSECUTOR: I think that's a reasonable conclusion based on the statement that Mr. Manlove gave to the police. Our request would be that the Court instruct the jury that the law in Delaware is that: A person who is indicted as a principal may be convicted as an accomplice, that's a very clear and correct instruction on the law; and I believe it directly answers the question that they have posed. . . . DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Your Honor, Mr. Manlove has not been indicted as an accomplice in this case. The charge in the indictment is rather clear, in addition to the fact that he's been acquitted of the conspiracy charge; but there's been no indictment inregarding to be an accomplice in this action. In this appeal, Manlove argues that the trial judge's supplemental instruction misled the jury into thinking that they could convict Manlove as an accomplice to the Robbery in the First Degree charge because the same jury acquitted Manlove of Assault in the Third Degree. The record supports that argument. Since the prosecution did not indict Manlove on an accomplice theory, and no evidence or argument was presented thereafter, the only rational conclusion is that the jury used the trial judge's reading in the supplemental instruction of title 11, section 275(a) of the Delaware Code as its basis for finding Manlove guilty of Robbery in the First Degree.