Opinion ID: 2223627
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Effect of Conflict Between General Verdict and Special Finding.

Text: Mumford's first and primary contention on appeal is that the jury's initial response to the special interrogatory clearly reflects a negative finding on both use of a firearm and use of a dangerous weapon, and that such finding precludes a verdict of guilt as to the offense of first-degree robbery. For purposes of this argument, Mumford accepts the conclusions of the trial court that on the record of this case the issues of use of a firearm and being armed with a dangerous weapon are synonymous, and accordingly there is a material conflict between the general verdict and the special finding of the jury. In urging that the jury's special finding as originally returned should be deemed controlling, Mumford relies upon our statement in Berghammer v. Smith, 185 N.W.2d 226, 234 (Iowa 1971) that: It is true that irreconcilable conflict between a general verdict and a special finding must be resolved in favor of the special finding, and that in such circumstances the general verdict cannot stand. He urges that we recognized the applicability of this rule in criminal cases in State v. Propps, 190 N.W.2d 408, 411 (Iowa 1971). In addition, he relies on State v. Wedner, 24 Wash.App. 346, 601 P.2d 950 (1979) and State v. Hurley, 4 Wash.App. 781, 483 P.2d 1274 (1971), where the court in each case held that a jury's special finding that the defendant was not armed with a deadly weapon precluded a general verdict of guilt on a charge for which such circumstance was an essential element. We find defendant's argument based on the cited cases to be inapposite to the present facts. In each of those cases the trial court had accepted the forms of verdict which the jury returned and had discharged the jury. The issue then became solely a problem of interpretation of the findings which the verdicts reflected. In the present case, the trial court refused to accept the verdict of the jury or its answers to the special interrogatory. As a result, the trial court was not called upon to interpret the findings. Indeed, its action in this regard appears clearly to have been intended to permit the jury itself to resolve any conflict between its general verdict and special findings.