Opinion ID: 2307555
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Instruction Regarding Unanimity of Guilt-Phase Verdict

Text: Defendant argues that the trial court, in violation of State v. Mejia, 141 N.J. 475, 662 A. 2d 308 (1995), To view preceding link please click here, did not instruct the guilt-phase jury that it could return a non-unanimous verdict that he intended to cause only serious bodily injury. The failure to provide this instruction, however, would constitute harmful error only if there were a rational basis to find that defendant acted with the intent to cause serious bodily injury. We have concluded that no rational basis exists for a finding of serious-bodily-injury murder. Supra at 286-88, 736 A. 2d at 498-99. Consequently, this issue is irrelevant.