Court Opinion

ID: 9603377
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:05:28.462977+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:17:36.981900
License: Public Domain

PARKS, Judge,
specially concurring:
I wish to elaborate on appellant’s second assignment, wherein he contends the trial court committed reversible error in failing to provide a separate “not guilty” verdict form to the jury for each offense charged, forcing the jury to either convict or acquit on both counts, thereby precluding the jury from finding appellant not guilty of one charge but guilty of the other. The majority states that while the better practice is to provide separate “not guilty” verdict forms for each crime charged, appellant’s claim “is harmless error at best.”
Clearly, the failure to submit a “not guilty” verdict form to the jury would constitute fundamental reversible error. Dyke v. State, 716 P.2d 693, 698 (Okla.Crim.App.1986). I am convinced that an accused is entitled to separate verdict forms for every legal conclusion that can be anticipated, and a trial court’s failure to comply therewith may constitute reversible error. See Kramer v. State, 97 Okl.Cr. 36, 257 P.2d 521, 523-24 (1953). Here, while the trial court did submit a “not guilty” verdict form, it did not specify either of the two charges for which appellant was being tried. While the trial court should furnish separate verdict forms for every legal conclusion that can be anticipated, it is not reversible error to furnish the jury with a blank verdict form to be filled out by the jury. See Stuart v. State, 522 P.2d 288, 296 (Okla.Crim.App.1974). The trial court’s instructions in this case required the jury to consider each charge separately, and not to find appellant guilty of either offense unless the jurors found the elements of each offense, as defined in the instructions, beyond a reasonable doubt. (O.R. 47, 50) Had the jury chosen to acquit appellant on one or both of the charges, the foreman could easily have filled in the blank “not guilty” verdict form with the applicable charge(s). Based on the foregoing, I concur in the affirmance of appellant’s convictions.