Opinion ID: 357403
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Submission of Counts I and II.

Text: 42 The jury acquitted the defendant of Counts I and II. The defendant urges that the submission of Counts I and II may have affected the jury's deliberation on Counts III, IV and V by allowing a trade-off or compromise. The court instructed the jury to consider each count separately. Although we agree that the trial court should not have submitted Counts I and II, we conclude that the verdict itself would indicate that the jury did give independent consideration to each count, and therefore find no prejudice. See Chatman v. United States, 557 F.2d 147, 149 (8th Cir.), Cert. denied,434 U.S. 863, 98 S.Ct. 195, 54 L.Ed.2d 138 (1977). 43