Opinion ID: 2070705
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Accomplice Liability Jury Properly Instructed

Text: Article I, Section 4 of the Delaware Constitution and Superior Court Criminal Rule 31(a) require that a jury verdict be unanimous. Probst v. State, Del.Supr., 547 A.2d 114, 120 n. 7 (1988). At Stevenson's trial, the Superior Court instructed the jury on accomplice liability, and issued a general theory unanimity instruction. The Superior Court correctly informed the jurors that, under Delaware law, to find a defendant guilty under a theory of accomplice liability, they must unanimously find that the requisite degree of complicity existed between the parties and that the crime, Heath's murder, was committed by one of them. See Claudio v. State, Del.Supr., 585 A.2d 1278, 1282 (1991). On appeal, Stevenson argues that the trial judge should have issued a single theory unanimity instruction, requiring the jury to decide specifically which defendant was the principal and which was the accomplice. Stevenson's argument is not persuasive for two reasons. First, the specific identification of the principal and accomplice is not a prerequisite to a finding of guilt for two persons under an accomplice liability theory. See Claudio v. State, 585 A.2d at 1282. Second, Stevenson's reliance on Probst, for the proposition that the defendants were entitled to a single theory unanimity instruction, is misplaced. A single theory unanimity instruction is required `if (1) a jury is instructed that the commission of any one of several alternative actions would subject the defendant to criminal liability, (2) the actions are conceptually different and (3) the state has presented evidence on each of the alternatives.' Probst v. State, 547 A.2d at 121 (citations omitted). In Probst, a specific unanimity instruction was desirable since there was one charge (assault) and evidence of two separate incidents (Probst's shots and Miller's shots) to support a conviction on alternate theories of liability. Id. at 124 (Opinion on Motion for Rehearing en Banc). Unlike Probst, the fatal shooting of Heath involved a single individual with a single gun and not distinct contemporaneous actions by two individuals who were each firing weapons at the same victim. This Court has stated: In a criminal charge involving one incident and two people, the jury is regarded as being unanimous if, without specifically identifying who was the principal and who was the accomplice, they all agree that one of the two actors performed all of the elements of the offense charged as a principal and that both actors knowingly participated in the alleged criminal act. Probst v. State, 547 A.2d at 123 (Opinion on Motion for Rehearing en Banc) (footnote omitted). Consequently, a single theory unanimity instruction was not required in this case. The Superior Court's instructions to the jury were a correct statement of Delaware law. Stevenson's argument on this issue is without merit.