Opinion ID: 2223627
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Coercive Effect of Requiring Further Jury Deliberation.

Text: The last issue which we consider is Mumford's claim that the ultimate verdict of the jury is the product of a subtle but nonetheless genuine coercion flowing from the circumstances under which it was returned. He first suggests that, given the totality of the circumstances, the jury must have believed that the only action it could take to satisfy the trial court was to change its answer to the special interrogatory from no to yes. We find no support for this contention. Neither the trial court's response to the jury's written inquiry or its additional instruction to the jury with respect to the conflict between the general verdict and special finding tends to give this impression. The thrust of the latter instruction is merely to preclude a conviction of the greater offense in the absence of satisfactory proof of an essential element thereof. Nor do we find any other circumstances in the record which can fairly be interpreted as suggesting to the jury that the lack of consistency between the general verdict and the special finding could only be cured by changing the latter. The jury was left free to alter either depending upon its ultimate finding of the facts of the case. Mumford advances another theory of coercion which is more difficult to deal with. He suggests that it would be less embarrassing for the jurors to change their answer to the special interrogatory than to admit that they had erred as to defendant's guilt of the offense charged. Given this circumstance, he suggests that it was quite predictable that the jury would respond as it did. The weakness in an argument of this type is its speculative nature. Neither common experience nor the record in the instant case will support a claim that the jury entertained such a state of mind or, if it did, that such circumstance influenced its verdict. As a result, we must assume that the jury followed the instructions of the court and responded to the merits of the case based upon its view of the evidence. In holding as we do, we do not suggest that circumstances will not be present in some cases which render it improper for a court to require a jury to reconsider a verdict; but we find no such circumstances in the present case. In this respect, the present case differs substantially from Phillips Chemical Co. v. Hulbert, 301 F.2d 747, 751 (5th Cir.1962) relied upon by Mumford in support of a reversal. In Hulbert, the court recognized the general rule in civil cases to be as follows: [A] trial court, upon discovering an inconsistency between a general verdict and a special verdict, can attempt to have the inconsistency remedied in any of three ways. The court can direct the entry of judgment on the special verdict, order a new trial, or return the jury for further deliberation. Ordinarily, it is discretionary with the court as to which of these alternatives is pursued.... However, this discretion must be exercised in light of the circumstances under which the inconsistency arises. In the instant case, it was improper to return the jury for further consideration because the jury had been rendered incapable of fairly resolving the inconsistency due to the fact that it had reached its general verdict without any consideration whatever of the special interrogatory on malice. In Hulbert the court determined that a new trial should have been ordered rather than further deliberation because the special interrogatory which was inconsistent with the jury's verdict was not submitted until after the general verdict was returned. In addition, the special interrogatory was directed to an issue which, although an essential element of recovery, was not mentioned in the original instructions from which the jury reached its general verdict. In the present case, the jury was properly instructed from the beginning and no tangible ground appears which would render it incapable of fairly resolving the conflict between the original verdict and the special finding. We have considered all issues presented and find no basis for reversal. AFFIRMED.