Court Opinion

ID: 9639381
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 16:15:11.639721+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:17.155552
License: Public Domain

EVELYN V. KEYES, Justice,
dissenting on en banc review.
I respectfully dissent. In this case, a jury found appellant, Kenneth Eugene Harris, guilty of the offense of manslaughter with a deadly weapon1 and assessed his punishment at confinement for 20 years. In his first and second points of error, appellant contends the trial court erred (1) in instructing the jury to agree unanimously to acquit him of the offense of manslaughter before considering whether he was guilty of the lesser-ineluded offense of criminally negligent homicide and (2) in overruling his objection to the State’s argument that the jury must unanimously agree to acquit him of manslaughter before considering whether he was guilty of criminally negligent homicide.
Without engaging in the analysis of the language of the charge articulated by this Court in its previous published decisions on this point, Mitchel v. State, 264 S.W.3d 244, 249-51 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2008, pet. ref'd), and Campbell v. State, 227 S.W.3d 326, 328-29 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2007, no pet.), the majority overrules Mitchel, stating, “[W]e expressly hold that the trial court did not err in instructing the jury to agree unanimously to acquit appellant of manslaughter before determining whether appellant was guilty of the lesser-ineluded offense of criminally negligent homicide” and that (2) “the trial court did not err in overruling appellant’s objection to the State’s jury argument” because the State correctly stated the law. Harris v. State, 287 S.W.3d at 790, 791 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2009, no pet. h.).
Because I believe the majority’s construction of the charge is contrary to the controlling case, Boyett v. State, 692 S.W.2d 512, 515 (Tex.Crim.App.1985), and because the majority overrules Mitchel and its progeny,2 with which I agree, and because I believe the majority’s insertion of a unanimity requirement at the beginning of the charge violates the rules of construction and has the consequence of depriving defendants of the substantial right to have lesser included offenses considered in cases of reasonable doubt before a verdict of guilty or acquittal is reached, I respectfully dissent.
I would hold that the charge, read in accordance with controlling law, does not require that the jurors must agree unanimously to acquit a defendant of the greater offense before they can consider the lesser; rather, it provides that unless the jurors agree unanimously to convict the defendant of the greater offense, or if any of them have a reasonable doubt about convicting him of the greater offense, they should consider the lesser offense, and they must prefer the lesser offense if any of them continue to have a reasonable *798doubt as to whether he is guilty of the greater. I would also hold that the State misstated the law in its jury argument, that the trial court erred in permitting that argument over appellant’s objection, and that appellant was harmed thereby. I would, therefore, reverse and remand the case for a new trial.
Facts
The jury charge at issue stated in pertinent part:
Now, if you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that on or about the 10th day of July, 2005, in Harris County, Texas, the defendant, Kenneth Eugene Harris, did then and there unlawfully, recklessly cause the death of [the complainant] by striking [her] with the motor vehicle while driving the motor vehicle at an excessive rate of speed and failing to keep a proper lookout, then you will find the defendant guilty of manslaughter, as charged in the indictment.

Unless you, so find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, or if you have a reasonable doubt thereof, you will acquit the defendant of manslaughter and next consider whether the defendant is guilty of the lesser offense of criminally negligent homicide.

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Therefore, if you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that on or about the 10th day of July, 2005, ... the defendant ... did then and there unlawfully, with criminal negligence cause the death of [the complainant] by striking [her] with the motor vehicle while driving the motor vehicle at an excessive rate of speed and failing to keep a proper lookout, then you will find the defendant guilty of criminally negligent homicide.
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If you have a reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant is guilty of any offense defined in this charge then you, will acquit the defendant and say by you,r verdict “Not Guilty.”

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After you retire to the jury room, you should select one of your members as your Foreman. It is his or her duty to preside at your deliberations, vote with you, and token you have unanimously agreed upon a verdict, to certify to your verdict by using the appropriate form attached hereto and signing the same as Foreman.
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Following the arguments of counsel, you will retire to consider your verdict.
(Emphasis added).
During the State’s jury argument, the following exchange occurred:
[State]: The only way you get to criminally negligent homicide is if every single one of you says “not guilty” on the manslaughter. That’s the only ivay you get there.
[Appellant’s counsel]: Objection, J'udge. That’s not true.
[Court]: I’m sorry. That statement again[J
[State]: The only way they get to manslaughter is if — or to criminally negligent homicide is if they say “not guilty” of manslaughter.
[Court]: Your objection is overruled. The [cjourt has given the charge on the law.
[State]: It’s real simple. Criminally negligent homicide is here (indicating). And the only time you consider that is if every — all 12, every single one of you, says, “No, not guilty." So, you’re not going to get there, so I’m not going to get there, so I’m not *799going to spend a lot of time talking about that because that doesn’t make sense. The reckless driving. I’m not going to spend any time at all talking about that because that’s just offensive. And I’m not going to talk about that.
[Appellant’s counsel]: Judge, I object to that. That’s the law and the jury’s— was instructed to consider the charge.
[Court]: And the charge is given. If the [State] chooses not to argue that, that’s [its] prerogative.
(Emphasis added).
Jury Charge
In his first point of error, appellant argues that the trial court “erroneously instructed the jury that it could not consider the lesser included offense of criminally negligent homicide, unless and until the jury acquitted appellant of manslaughter.” Appellant contends that “[t]he law does not require that the jury unanimously agree that an accused is not guilty of a greater offense before they may consider a lesser offense.” I agree with appellant’s statement of Texas law, but I disagree with appellant’s further statement that the instruction given to the jury as written— rather than as consumed by the State in its jury argument — instructed them incorrectly.
I would hold that the jury instruction as written is a correct statement of Texas law as stated in the controlling cases — Boyett and Mitchel. The majority, however, con-clusorily overrules Mitchel on two grounds. First, the majority opines that Article 37.14 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides that if a defendant is found guilty of a lesser-ineluded offense the verdict “shall be considered an acquittal of the higher offense,” “says nothing about how a trial court is to instruct juries on lesser-ineluded offenses.” Tex. Code CRiM. PROC. Ann. art. 37.14 (Vernon 2006); Harris, 287 S.W.3d at 790. Second, the majority opines that its construction “is in accord with Boyett,” in which the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals expressly agreed with the defendant in that case that the pertinent charge “should have more explicitly instructed the jurors that if they did not believe, or if they had reasonable doubt of [the defendant’s] guilt of the greater offense, they would acquit [the defendant] and proceed to consider whether [the defendant] was guilty of the lesser included offense.” Id. at 791 (quoting Boyett, 692 S.W.2d at 515). I disagree both with the claim that the Code of Criminal Procedure is silent as to the requirements of a proper instruction on lesser-ineluded offenses and with the claim that the majority has correctly construed Boy-ett.
The majority construes the sentence quoted from Boyett as instructing jurors that if they have a reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant is guilty of a greater offense they must unanimously acquit him of the greater offense and, only if they are unanimous as to acquittal, then they “proceed to consider” the next lesser offense. I disagree that there is such an instruction in Boyett.
In Boyett, which this Court previously analyzed in Mitchel, the issue was whether there should have been a sequencing charge, such as that at issue in this case. See Mitchel, 264 S.W.3d at 249-50 (analyzing Boyett). The charge complained of applied Texas law to the facts for murder, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter, and then stated, “Unless you so find, or if you have reasonable doubt thereof, you should consider whether or not the defendant is guilty of the lesser included offense of [offense named].” Boyett, 692 S.W.2d at 515. The appellant in Boyett argued that the charge *800“amounts to an instruction to convict because it does not instruct the jury to acquit Appellant of a greater offense before considering his guilt of a lesser offense nor does it instruct the Jury to acquit if it has a reasonable doubt as to whether Appellant is guilty of any offense therein defined.” Id. The appellant sought an instruction that is essentially identical to the one given in this case, namely an instruction that would say:
[I]f you do not so believe, [the defendant is guilty of the greater offense] or if you have a reasonable doubt thereof, you will acquit the defendant and say by your verdict ‘not guilty’ but if you do not so believe, or if you have a reasonable doubt thereof, you will acquit the defendant of [the greater offense] and proceed to consider whether the defendant is guilty of the [lesser offense].

Id.

The Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with the appellant in Boyett that the charge “should have more explicitly instructed the jurors that if they did not believe, or if they had reasonable doubt of appellant’s guilt of the greater offense, they should acquit appellant and, proceed to consider whether appellant was guilty of the lesser included offense.” Id. (emphasis added). But the Court of Criminal Appeals imposed no unanimity requirement on the jurors’ acquittal of the greater offense before proceeding to the lesser. Instead, it held that the instruction as given had the same effect as the instruction sought, namely, when read as a whole, it directed the jurors to consider the offenses in sequence unless they were unanimous that the defendant was guilty of a greater offense beyond a reasonable doubt; it did not direct them not to proceed to consider lesser offenses unless they were unanimous that the defendant should be acquitted of a greater offense:
[T]he instruction given, although not a model charge, essentially instructed the jurors to acquit, without specifically using the word ‘acquit,’ by stating that if the jurors had a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of appellant to the greater offense, they should next consider the lesser included offense. This instruction properly informed the jurors to consider appellant’s requested instructions on lesser included offenses. The jury apparently understood the instructions correctly since they found appellant guilty of the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter, thus acquitting him of murder. The charge read as a whole adequately instructed the jurors about acquitting appellant and about considering the lesser included offenses requested by appellant.
The second part of appellant’s contention is that the charge does not instruct the jury to acquit if it has a reasonable doubt as to whether appellant is guilty of any offense. The last page of the charge instructs the jurors, “In case you have a reasonable doubt as to defendant’s guilt after considering all the evidence before you and, these instructions, you tuill acquit him. ” The better practice is to instmct the jury that if it has a reasonable doubt as to whether a defendant is guilty of any offense defined in the charge, it will find the defendant not guilty and the better location for such an instruction is after the last lesser included offense in the charge. However, we hold that the instmction given is, in essence, the same as that appellant now contends should have been given and the charge when read as a whole adequately instmcts the jury on this issue.
Id. at 516 (emphasis added).
The Court of Criminal Appeals thus construed the correct charge as one that di*801rected the jurors to read the charge as a whole and, if they had a reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt of the greater offense, not to convict the defendant of that greater offense but to consider whether he was guilty of a lesser offense and, at the end of considering all of the lesser included offenses, to acquit the defendant of a greater offense by finding him guilty of a lesser or acquitting him of all charges, just as Article 37.14 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires. See Tex. Code Crim. Prog. Ann. art. 37.14 (providing that guilty verdict on lesser-included offense “shall be considered an acquittal of the higher offense”).
The charge at issue in this Court’s Mitchel case adopted the charge language suggested by the defense in Boyett and approved by the Court of Criminal Appeals in Boyett. See Mitchel, 264 S.W.3d at 249. This Court held,
The charge instructed jurors that having a reasonable doubt of appellant’s guilt of the greater offense amounted to an acquittal of that offense and required that jurors consider the lesser offenses. The charge then required that, if the jurors had a reasonable doubt as to whether appellant was guilty of the greater offense or the lesser included offense, the jurors must resolve any doubt by finding appellant guilty of the lesser offense. When read together, these two instructions properly instructed jurors regarding the effect of them having had a reasonable doubt as to any charged offense.
Id, at 250.
As in Mitchel, the charge at issue in the instant case incorporates the language sought by the defense in Boyett and construed by the Court of Criminal Appeals in Boyett as directing the jury to consider the charge as a whole and to determine guilt after considering both the greater and the lesser offenses, determining acquittal of a greater offense by conviction of a lesser or acquittal of all charges in the verdict. As this Court previously observed in both Campbell and Mitchel, the only mention of unanimity occurs at the end of the jury charge regarding the foreman’s certification duties once the jury has “unanimously agreed upon a verdict,” and it applies only after the jurors have gone through the entire sequence of offenses with which the defendant was charged and have acquitted him of the greater charges (if they do) by convicting him of a lesser or acquitting him of all charges. See Mitchel, 264 S.W.3d at 250; Campbell, 227 S.W.3d at 328-29; see also Boyett, 692 S.W.2d at 516 (preferring as “[t]he better practice” in cases when the jury “has a reasonable doubt as to whether a defendant is guilty of any offense defined in the charge” to locate the instruction that the jury find the defendant “not guilty ... after the last lesser included offense in the charge”). Moreover, just as in Mitchel and Boyett, there is no indication in the text of the challenged instruction that unanimity is required on any offense prior to the delivery of the verdict, and the charge makes sense as a whole only if it is read as instructing the jurors to consider each charged offense in sequence, unless they unanimously agree to convict the defendant of a greater offense before reaching a lesser.3
*802The majority, however, rather than reading the charge as a whole as requiring a jury in doubt as to a greater offense to consider lesser included offenses before reaching their unanimous verdict of guilt or acquittal, interprets the instruction as prohibiting the jury from considering a lesser offense if they have a reasonable doubt about convicting the defendant of the greater offense except in the special case where all jurors have such a doubt. Thus, in virtually all cases, it precludes consideration of the charge as a whole, comparison of the greater and lesser offenses, and acquittal of a greater offense by conviction of a lesser. The jury must either all agree to convict the defendant of the greater offense or all agree to acquit before even considering the rest of the charge. The majority’s reading of the charge thus transposes an instruction addressed to the situation in which jurors do not agree unanimously to convict the defendant of the greater offense or have a reasonable doubt, and are, therefore, instructed to proceed to consider the lesser offense, with an instruction requiring that jurors must agree unanimously to acquit of the greater offense in order to reach the lesser. The jurors are stuck, by the majority’s reading, with “all or nothing,” and the part of the charge directing them to consider the next lesser offenses in sequence becomes irrelevant in all cases except those in which every juror agrees that the defendant is not guilty of the greater offense. There is no room for a non-unanimous jury or a reasonable doubt in this interpretation of the charge. The result is a reading that turns the construction of the charge required by Boyett and Mitcihel on its head.
Not only does the majority’s reading of the charge contravene Boyett, it also contravenes the rules of construction. Lesser included offenses are governed by articles 37.08 and 37.09 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as article 37.14. Tex. Cooe Crim. Proo. ANN. arts. 37.08, 37.09, 37.14 (Vernon 2006). Article 3.01 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides, “All words, phrases and terms in this Code are to be taken and understood in their usual acceptance in common language, except where specially defined.” Tex. Code Crim. PROC. Ann. art. 3.01 (Vernon 2005). In addition, article 1.27 of the Code provides, “If this Code fails to provide a rule of procedure in a particular state of a case which may arise, the rules of the common law shall be applied and govern.” Id. art. 1.27.
The leading case governing the interpretation of text in the criminal context is Boykin v. State. 818 S.W.2d 782 (Tex.Crim.App.1991). Boykin is a statutory construction case, but, as the court stated, “It should be remembered that the canons of construction are no more than rules of logic for the interpretation of texts.” Id. at 785 n. 3. The rules of construction in criminal cases thus apply to the text of criminal jury charges, as well as to the texts of the statutes under which they are promulgated. Under Boykin, the Court of Criminal Appeals gives primary effect to the plain meaning of a text. Id. at 785. Only when the plain meaning would lead to absurd consequences is the language not applied literally. Id. The persuasiveness *803of an interpretation is evaluated in the textual context, since it is illogical to presume that in -writing a statute the legislature intended a part of the whole to be superfluous. See id. at 786.
Since Boykin, the Court of Criminal Appeals has repeatedly emphasized that the courts must seek to fulfill the legislature’s purpose in enacting a statute. See Hernandez v. State, 127 S.W.3d 768, 772 (Tex.Crim.App.2004); Wolfe v. State, 120 S.W.3d 368, 370-72 (Tex.Crim.App.2003). It has likewise repeatedly emphasized that ordinarily a statute must be interpreted according to its plain meaning unless that would lead to an “absurd result that the legislature could not have intended.” Jaubert v. State, 74 S.W.3d 1, 2 (Tex.Crim.App.2002); Enos v. State, 889 S.W.2d 303, 305 (Tex.Crim.App.1994). The same rules apply to jury charges, by which the intent of the Legislature in enacting statutes is implemented in particular cases.
Here, the majority’s construction of the charge includes a silent unanimity requirement that contravenes the plain language of the statute by adding an additional secret term. This construction also renders the rest of the instruction, requiring consideration of lesser included offenses in cases of doubt, superfluous; and it contravenes the rule that the text should be read as a whole. See Boykin, 818 S.W.2d at 786; see also Boyett, 692 S.W.2d at 516 (holding that instruction regarding consideration of lesser included offenses “when read as a whole adequately instructs the jury on this issue”). Moreover, the majority’s construction of the charge contravenes legislative intent in enacting articles 37.08, 37.09, and 37.14 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which permit the consideration of lesser included offenses and provide for acquittal of a greater offense by conviction of a lesser, by ruling out consideration of the lesser charge in most situations, namely, whenever the jury is less than unanimous in its belief that the defendant is not guilty of the greater offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
The majority’s construction of the charge has important consequences. By prohibiting the jury from following the charge’s explicit instruction to consider lesser included offenses when it is not unanimous in agreeing that the defendant should be convicted of the greater offense or when some jurors have a reasonable doubt as to whether he should be convicted of the greater, the majority’s reading deprives the defendant of the substantial right to have the jurors consider whether he is guilty of the lesser offense in most cases, and it coerces them to convict him of the greater offense by precluding them from considering evidence that might change their minds. It also deprives the defendant of the right to be acquitted of the greater offense by conviction of the lesser when some of the jurors have a reasonable doubt as to whether he should be convicted of the one or the other.
For the foregoing reasons, I would hold that Mitchel correctly states the law and that there is no unanimity requirement in a legally correct reading of the charge submitted to the jury in this case. Thus, I would overrule appellant’s first point of error insofar as appellant contends that the charge itself misstates Texas law. I would sustain it, however, insofar as appellant contends that the construction of the charge heard by the jurors in the State’s jury argument, over appellant’s objection, and adopted as the proper construction by the trial court, misstated Texas law.
Jury Argument
In his second point of error, appellant argues that the trial court erred in overruling his objection to the State’s argument that “Texas law requires the jury *804unanimously to acquit an accused of a greater offense before it can even consider whether the accused is guilty of a lesser-included offense.” Appellant contends that by overruling his objection, “the trial court gave a stamp of approval to a misstatement of the law that harmed appellant.” I agree.
The majority finds no error in the State’s argument that the jury could not consider the lesser charge unless “all 12, every single one of you, says, ‘No, not guilty1 ” and its instruction, “So you’re not going to get there, so I’m not going to get there, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time talking about that because that doesn’t make sense.” Rather, the majority states, “It is not error for the State to quote or paraphrase the jury charge during argument.” Harris, 287 S.W.3d at 792. It, therefore, holds that the “trial court did not err in instructing the jury to agree unanimously to acquit appellant of manslaughter before considering whether appellant was guilty of the lesser-included offense of criminally negligent homicide” and it “did not err in overruling appellant’s objection to the State’s jury argument.” Id.
To be permissible, jury argument must fall within one of four areas: (1) summation of the evidence; (2) reasonable deduction from the evidence; (3) response to argument of opposing counsel; or (4) plea for law enforcement. Kinnamon v. State, 791 S.W.2d 84, 89 (Tex.Crim.App.1990); Moore v. State, 233 S.W.3d 32, 37 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2007, no pet.). Argument that misstates the law or is contrary to the court’s charge is improper. Grant v. State, 738 S.W.2d 309, 311 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1987, pet. ref'd). Following an objectionable jury argument, an instruction by the court to disregard the argument will, however, normally obviate the error, unless the argument was so inflammatory that its prejudicial effect could not reasonably be removed by such an admonishment. Kinnamon, 791 S.W.2d at 89; Melton v. State, 713 S.W.2d 107, 114 (Tex.Crim.App.1986). “In order for an improper argument to rise to a level that mandates reversal, the argument must be extreme, or manifestly improper or inject new and harmful facts into evidence.” Kinnamon, 791 S.W.2d at 89.
In Almanza v. State, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals addressed error in the jury charge. 686 S.W.2d 157, 171 (Tex.Crim.App.1985). It held that if the error is the subject of a timely objection in the trial court, reversal is required if the error was “calculated to injure the rights of defendant,” i.e., if there was “some harm to the defendant.” Id. at 171. If no proper objection is made at trial, however, reversal is required only if the error was so egregious and created such harm as to deprive the defendant of a fair and impartial trial. Id. In both situations, the degree of harm is determined in light of the entire jury charge, the state of the evidence, including the contested issues and the weight of the probative evidence, the argument of counsel, and any other relevant information revealed by the record of the trial as a whole. Id.
Here, the error consisted of a misstatement of the law by the State in its jury argument, to which appellant properly objected. The error -was plainly calculated to injure appellant’s rights by depriving him of the opportunity to have the lesser included offense of criminally negligent homicide considered if the jurors were less than unanimous as to whether he was guilty of the greater offense of manslaughter or if any of them had a reasonable doubt as to such guilt; and it further deprived him of the right to be acquitted of the greater offense by conviction of the lesser in the event such doubt persisted after the jury’s consideration of the evidence in support of both.
*805It is immaterial to the foregoing harm analysis that appellant was convicted of the greater offense because, given the erroneous construction of the charge the jury heard from the State with the court’s approval, the jurors could reasonably have believed that they had no choice but to convict appellant of the greater offense of manslaughter or unanimously acquit him without considering the entire charge or evidence that might have mitigated in favor of the lesser included offense. Nor is there any way to determine from the fact that the jury convicted appellant of the greater charge whether some or many of them had a reasonable doubt as to whether he should have been convicted of the greater offense, but believed they could not explore the evidence in favor of the lesser to resolve that doubt, and thus felt themselves coerced to vote for conviction of the greater, or whether they unanimously did agree that he was guilty of the greater offense and none of them had a reasonable doubt that might have been resolved in favor of conviction of the lesser offense. For these reasons, I can only interpret the harm by the State’s and the trial court’s erroneous construction of the charge not merely as some harm — which is all that is required for reversal under the circumstances of this case — but as egregious harm that deprived appellant of his right to a fair and impartial trial on all the issues.
I would sustain appellant’s second point of error.
Conclusion
I would reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand the case for a new trial.

. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 19.04 (Vernon 2003).

. This Court has issued three memorandum opinions following Mitchel v. State, 264 S.W.3d 244 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2008, pet. ref'd): Barrios v. State, No. 07-00099-CR, 2008 WL 1747738 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] Sept. 10, 2008, pet. granted) (mem. op.); Rainey v. State, No. 06-01026-CR, 2008 WL 1747623 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] Apr. 17, 2008, pet. filed) (mem. op.); and McAdams v. State, No. 07-00256-CR, 2008 WL 525736 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] Feb. 28, 2008, pet. filed) (mem. op.).

. Nevertheless, as stated by the Court of Criminal Appeals of the predecessor charge in Boyett, more felicitous charge language could have been chosen. See Boyett, 692 S.W.2d at 516. The charge would be clearer and more coherent in conveying the same idea if it stated, "LIf you unanimously find the defendant guilty of the greater offense, you will proceed directly to the verdict page and convict the defendant of the greater offense. If you do not unanimously find the defendant guilty of the greater offense], or if you have a *802reasonable doubt thereof, you will [not convict] the defendant of [the greater offense] [but] will next consider whether the defendant is guilty of the lesser offense...." It is potentially misleading for the jury charge to direct the jury to "acquit" if they have a reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant is guilty of the greater offense and “next” to consider the lesser included offense without spelling out that such "acquittal” is neither unanimous nor final at the time the juty proceeds to consider the lesser offense. "Acquittal” is a legal term that may have different connotations for jurors and attorneys.