Opinion ID: 1405957
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Whether We Should Return to Pre-Stone Law

Text: The State Public Defender urges that we return to what he describes as the rule prior to Stone  no mandatory order in the sequence of deliberations and no requirement of unanimity on the greater before returning a verdict on the lesser included offense. (2) As for the sequence of deliberations, we have noted in other contexts that jurors should not be unduly influenced in their determination of the facts by matters extraneous to the evidence and arguments of counsel. ( People v. Rodriguez (1986) 42 Cal.3d 730, 768, 772, 775 [230 Cal. Rptr. 667, 726 P.2d 113] [judicial comment on the evidence]; People v. Gainer (1977) 19 Cal.3d 835, 848 [139 Cal. Rptr. 861, 566 P.2d 997, 97 A.L.R.3d 73] [admonition to minority jurors].) This does not mean, however, that they must be free of all judicial influence. ( Rodriguez, supra, 42 Cal.3d at p. 768.) Where charges and associated verdict forms are complex, the trial judge has the discretion we described in Stone, supra, 31 Cal.3d 503 to forestall an anticipated deadlock or to assist the jury in moving beyond an actually threatened deadlock [9] by directing the jury under an instruction such as CALJIC No. 8.75 at least as to the sequence in which verdicts will have to be ultimately rendered. That instruction helpfully returns the jury to the courtroom when the jury seems unable to agree on the greater charge in the course of its deliberations; and at that point the trial judge has the opportunity to emphasize that while the jury may consider charges in any order it wishes to facilitate ultimate agreement on a conviction or acquittal, it may not return a verdict on lesser offenses unless it has unanimously agreed on a disposition of the greater. It also permits the court to reiterate that if the jury is unanimous on a greater offense, no further deliberation may be necessary and to correct any misunderstanding of the law that the jury may express. As for our asserted history of not requiring acquittal on the greater offense before returning a verdict on the lesser, the State Public Defender's cases, while showing that juries in fact reached verdicts on lesser degrees of crime or lesser included offenses, do not indicate how the greater offense was then handled. (See, e.g., Gomez v. Superior Court (1958) 50 Cal.2d 640, 642 [328 P.2d 976]; In re Hess (1955) 45 Cal.2d 171, 173 [288 P.2d 5]; People v. Greer (1947) 30 Cal.2d 589, 595 [184 P.2d 512]; People v. McFarlane (1903) 138 Cal. 481, 482 [71 P. 568]; People v. Smith (1901) 134 Cal. 453, 454 [66 P. 669]; see also People v. Henderson (1963) 60 Cal.2d 482, 484, 496 [35 Cal. Rptr. 77, 386 P.2d 677].) Did the prosecutor, for example, stipulate to the entry of verdict on a lesser offense? (Cf. Pen. Code, § 1140 [consent of both parties to discharge the jury].) Did he object and seek a mistrial? Did the trial judge simply enter a verdict on the lesser offense without further discussion with counsel or despite counsel's objections? Typically these cases appear in a double jeopardy context where an attempt has been made to try defendant on the higher degree of crime after reversal of the lesser offense for which defendant was convicted. Details of entry of that first judgment  our area of concern  are not given and leave actual practice in the trial courts unclear. Our attention has been directed to Penal Code section 1160 which states: ... Where two or more offenses are charged in any accusatory pleading, if the jury cannot agree upon a verdict as to all of them, they may render a verdict as to the charge or charges upon which they do agree, and the charges on which they do not agree may be tried again. (See also Stone, supra, 31 Cal.3d at p. 517.) Where the offenses are in fact greater and lesser included, however, this language must be interpreted in light of the doctrine of implied acquittal. Even very early cases sometimes comment that the jury should first determine guilt or innocence of the charged crime before proceeding to inquire if defendant is guilty of a lesser offense. ( People v. Gilmore (1854) 4 Cal. 376, 377; and see People v. Gordon (1893) 99 Cal. 227, 230 [33 P. 901]; see also People v. Moran (1970) 1 Cal.3d 755, 763 [83 Cal. Rptr. 411, 463 P.2d 763] [if defendant were found guilty of both the greater and lesser offense, conviction of the greater would control].) We therefore conclude there is no clear California practice to which to return, and that acquittal of the greater offense before returning a verdict on the lesser included offense represents an appropriate balancing of interests. Defendant urges that a jury may not feel comfortable with the post- Stone instructions and the need to formally find defendant not guilty on the greater offense before returning a verdict on the lesser included offense. Jurors are called upon, however, to perform a sometimes difficult job in reaching a verdict in a criminal case. They must make tough decisions in applying the facts to the law, and while we can make it fair to both the prosecution and defense, we cannot make it comfortable for jurors. (Cf. Zwiers, supra, 191 Cal. App.3d at p. 1506; Boettcher, supra, 69 N.Y.2d at p. 183 [513 N.Y.S.2d at p. 87].) Further, as long as the jury is not prohibited from considering the lesser included offense and its elements in the jury's determination on the greater charge, we perceive no legitimate reason it should feel uncomfortable.