Opinion ID: 1344706
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: question submitted to the court during deliberations

Text: The fourth issue is whether the trial court committed reversible error when it ignored the jury's question, asking if the `intent' has to be decided upon prior to entry, or after he has entered the home. Rudolph points out that rule 47(n) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure requires the court to respond to a question presented by the jury during deliberations. He asserts that the trial judge failed to comply with this rule. However, we conclude that the error, if any, in the court's failure to respond to this question was harmless. In view of our construction of the remaining unlawfully provision of section 76-6-202(1), the jury was merely required to find that Rudolph formed the intent to commit a sexual assault at the time he broke into the victim's home or while he remained there unlawfully. This being so, the court's failure to respond to the jury's question was of no consequence and did not amount to reversible error.