Opinion ID: 1453510
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: mistrial after deadlock.

Text: After several days of deliberation, the court received a communication from the jury stating that it was deadlocked. The court, with defense counsel and defendant present, then proposed to ask the foreperson whether further deliberations would assist in reaching a verdict. Defense did not object, the court asked the foreperson, and she responded affirmatively. The jury returned its verdict shortly thereafter. Appellant contends the court directed the jury to resume deliberation, thus coercing the presumably sole dissenting juror to return a guilty verdict. We disagree. The court's instruction accorded with this court's direction in State v. McCarter, 93 N.M. 708, 710, 604 P.2d 1242, 1244 (1980): We realize that when a statement is submitted to the court by the jury during deliberations concerning the inability of the jury to arrive at a verdict, together with a disclosure of the numerical division, the judge must communicate with that jury in some fashion. The judge not only can, but should, communicate with the jury and can do so if the communication leaves with the jury the discretion whether or not it should deliberate further. The court can inform the jury that it may consider further deliberations, but not that it must consider further deliberations.