Opinion ID: 1951964
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 21

Heading: Jury Instruction Concerning Mitigation

Text: Defendant contends that the trial court's instruction that to the extent reasonably possible you [the jury] should attempt to reach agreement on the question of whether a particular mitigating factor does or does not exist, impermissibly instructed the jury that it was to reach a unanimous verdict on the mitigating factors. The trial court did not err in giving the jury this instruction. Although, standing alone, an instruction of this type may be coercive, see Loftin, supra, 146 N.J. at 375-76, 680 A. 2d 677, the court repeatedly instructed the jury that it was not required to find the existence of the mitigating factors unanimously. Viewing the jury charge as a whole, as we are required to do, State v. Wilbely, 63 N.J. 420, 422, 307 A. 2d 608 (1973), the danger of the erroneous charge was eliminated. See Loftin, supra, 146 N.J. at 376, 680 A. 2d 677.