Opinion ID: 609824
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Jury unanimity at sentencing

Text: 75 Section 848(k) provides that a recommendation of death may be returned only by the jury's unanimous vote. Section 848(l ) provides: 76 Upon the recommendation that the sentence of death be imposed, the court shall sentence the defendant to death. Otherwise the court shall impose a sentence, other than death, authorized by law. 77 When read in conjunction, these subsections provide that in the event the jury cannot unanimously recommend a death sentence, the district court must sentence the defendant to some non-death sentence. 78 At sentencing, the district court instructed the jury that: 79 [i]n order to bring back a verdict recommending the punishment of death, all twelve of you must vote in favor of recommending the death penalty. In other words, a verdict recommending a sentence of death must be unanimous. RXV-87. The jury was also charged: 80 If you do not make such a recommendation, the court is required by law to impose a sentence other than death, which sentence is to be determined by the court alone. 81 RXV-87. The court admonished the jury that it was never required to recommend a death sentence. 82 The district court provided the jury with a verdict form to complete during deliberations. The verdict form contained blanks for the jury to check after it made findings. In the section containing the jury's recommendation for or against a death sentence, the form provided: 83 We the jury unanimously vote to recommend, and do unanimously recommend that 84 ___a sentence of death be imposed 85 ___a sentence of death not be imposed upon defendant David Ronald Chandler. 86 RII-221-3. Chandler argues that Section 848 along with the constitutional requirement that the jury not be misinformed or coerced during a capital sentencing require that the jury be instructed that the failure to reach unanimity would result in Chandler receiving some non-death sentence as determined by the court. 87 Several courts have held that a trial court must instruct the jury on the consequences of a lack of unanimity at the sentencing stage (a hung jury). The Delaware Supreme Court held that, because Delaware's capital statute provides that the failure to reach unanimity results in a life sentence, the jury must clearly and explicitly be instructed that the jury need not be unanimous for a life sentence to be imposed. Whalen v. State, 492 A.2d 552, 562 (Del.1985). The New Jersey Supreme Court, in construing a similar capital statute, held that the statute and the unique nature of a death case require that the trial court inform the jury of the consequences of a non-unanimous decision. State v. Ramseur, 106 N.J. 123, 524 A.2d 188, 283-84 (1987). Louisiana has reached the same conclusion. State v. Williams, 392 So.2d 619, 633-34 (La.1980). Chandler points out that in other Section 848(e) prosecutions, the district courts have instructed the jury on the consequences of a hung jury and provided a verdict form that allowed the jury to state that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. 88 Other courts, however, have held that a defendant is not entitled to an instruction informing the jury of the consequences of a lack of unanimity. The Fourth Circuit held that even though the Virginia capital statute requires that the defendant receive a life sentence if the jury is unable to reach unanimity, the defendant is not entitled to a hung jury instruction. Evans v. Thompson, 881 F.2d 117, 123-124 (4th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 497 U.S. 1010, 110 S.Ct. 3255, 111 L.Ed.2d 764 (1990). The Fourth Circuit also held that, although the South Carolina capital statute requires an instruction on the consequences of a hung jury, the lack of such an instruction has no affect on the sentencing decision. Gaskins v. McKellar, 916 F.2d 941, 955 (4th Cir.1990), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 2277, 114 L.Ed.2d 728 (1991). North Carolina, Florida and Alabama do not require the jury to be informed of the effect of a failure to reach a unanimous verdict. Barfield v. Harris, 540 F.Supp. 451, 472 (E.D.N.C.1982). See also Aldridge v. State, 351 So.2d 942, 944 (Fla.1977) (per curiam); Coulter v. State, 438 So.2d 336, 346 (Ala.App.1982) (collecting cases). 89 We find the reasoning of the second set of authorities persuasive and hold that the district court is not required to instruct the jury on the consequence of the jury's inability to reach a unanimous verdict. There is no requirement that instructions to the jury duplicate the statutory language. Section 848(l ) is an instruction to the court and not for the jury. Our holding is further supported by the general interest the criminal justice system has in unanimous verdicts. Asking the jury to return a unanimous verdict forces jurors to examine their views on the case and engage in discussions and deliberations as they attempt to resolve their differences. 90 We reject the suggestion that the instructions or verdict form in some way coerced the jury into a recommendation of death. Similar instructions are given during the guilt stage of criminal proceedings. That an Allen type charge was given in the present case does not create any coercion. 1 Although the instruction stated that jurors should not hesitate to re-examine your own opinion, and to change your mind if you become convinced that you are wrong, it also admonished, do not give up you honest beliefs ... solely because the others think differently or merely to get the case over with. RXV-87. When this instruction is coupled with the court's statement that Chandler would receive the death penalty only if all jurors unanimously agreed to recommend death, we conclude the Allen charge was not coercive. See Lowenfield v. Phelps, 484 U.S. 231, 237-238, 108 S.Ct. 546, 550-51, 98 L.Ed.2d 568 (1988). 91 Finally we note that unlike many of the coercion cases discussed here and in Chandler's brief, there was no indication in this case that the jury was anything but unanimous. After a two week trial, the jury deliberated for just under three hours before returning a recommendation of death. Moreover, each juror was required to sign the verdict form and each juror, when polled, affirmed the decision. 92 To conclude, we hold that in the sentencing phase of a Section 848(e) prosecution, the district court is not required to instruct the jury on the consequences of an inability to reach a unanimous verdict. Chandler also failed to demonstrate that the jury was in any way coerced in this case.