Opinion ID: 2331454
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Extending Deliberations Into Sunday

Text: [¶ 22] Citing 4 M.R.S.A. § 1051, Merchant contends that the Superior Court erred by allowing the jury to deliberate into the early morning hours of Sunday, November 18, 2001. Section 1051 states that court shall not be held on Sundays or legal holidays. Section 1051 and previous similar provisions prohibiting court sessions on Sundays or legal holidays have existed in the statutes for many years. See R.S. ch. 107, § 55 (1954). These provisions extend back to a time when, by rule, jurors were not permitted to separate once deliberations had begun. Thus, M.R.Crim. P. 24(e) formerly stated in pertinent part that: [T]he jury may be allowed to separate until it retires to consider its verdict, at which time the jury shall be sequestered until discharged, except that the court may in special circumstances authorize the jurors to separate after they have delivered a sealed verdict. [6] 1983 MAINE RULES OF COURT. [¶ 23] To allow juries to continue deliberations and not separate, and to respect the limitation in 4 M.R.S.A. § 1051 on court sessions being held or convening on Sundays or legal holidays, M.R.Crim. P. 31(d) was adopted to allow the court to receive a verdict on any nonbusiness day or outside business hours, from a jury that commenced its deliberations on a regular business day. Thus, the rules permit the trial court, in its discretion, to allow jury deliberations commenced on another day to continue into a Sunday or other legal holiday as defined by 4 M.R.S.A. § 1051.