Opinion ID: 1465529
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Explanation to Jury

Text: Welborn complains that it was error for the trial judge to advise the jury during voir dire as to the future consequences of their possible verdict. The alleged error was not preserved by contemporaneous objection. Review is sought under RCr 10.26. The trial judge informed the jury during voir dire that there would be four verdicts for them to consider  not guilty, not guilty by reason of insanity, guilty but mentally ill and guilty. The jurors made several comments questioning the different verdicts and were not satisfied when it was explained that their concerns about the future implications of those verdicts were not important at this stage. After jurors continued to express concerns, the trial judge then observed that if the consequences of the verdict were not explained in voir dire, then they would lose 99 percent of the jury. Neither the Commonwealth nor the defense objected to informing the jury of the general consequences of the different verdicts. When requested by either party in a trial by jury of the issue of absence of criminal responsibility for criminal conduct, the trial judge is required under RCr 9.55 to instruct the jury at the guilt/innocence phase as to the dispositional provisions applicable to the defendant if the jury returns a verdict of not criminally responsible by reason of mental illness or guilty but mentally ill. Considering the requirements of this rule, we can perceive no error in informing the jury of the same information during voir dire. Consequently, it was not error for the trial judge to explain to the jury in voir dire the procedural differences in a guilty but mentally ill verdict, and a not guilty by reason of insanity verdict. The legal authorities relied on by Welborn predate the adoption of RCr 9.55. Welborn was not deprived of his constitutional rights to a fair trial. There was no contamination of the jury pool. There was no palpable error or manifest injustice.