Court Opinion

ID: 9618941
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 05:19:44.488871+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:04:33.997655
License: Public Domain

TOAL, Chief Justice,
concurring separately:
While I concur with the majority’s conclusion that a trial judge does not have to affirmatively inform the jury its consent is necessary before sending it back to deliberate a third time, I write separately to emphasize the importance of “due deliberation” in the analysis of S.C.Code Ann. § 14-7-1330 (1976).
Section 14-7-1330 states:
When a jury, after due and thorough deliberation upon any cause, returns into court without having agreed upon a verdict, the court may state anew the evidence or any part of it and explain to it anew the law applicable to the case and may send it out for further deliberation. But if it returns a second time without having agreed upon a verdict, it shall not be sent out again without its own consent unless it shall ask from the court some further explanation of the law.
(Emphasis added). This statutory language establishes that due deliberation must occur prior to the jury’s claim of deadlock.
As the majority points out, the main concern of section 14-7-1330 is the avoidance of forced verdicts and undue severity of jury service. See State v. Freely, 105 S.C. 243, 247, 89 S.E. 643, 644 (1916). As a practical matter, neither of these concerns are relevant until the jury has had the case long enough to qualify as due deliberation. In some cases, a jury may return to the court claiming deadlock well before there has been enough time for due deliberation. For example, where a complicated trial has occurred over the course of *425several weeks, if the jury returns claiming deadlock after only a few hours of initial deliberation, the trial judge does not have to count that interruption under section 14-7-1330. If a trial judge had to count every such claim of deadlock as a return, the statute would improperly limit the trial judge’s discretion in guiding a case to its final resolution.
I believe section 14-7-1330 sets up two requirements. First, the section establishes there must be “due and thorough deliberation” by the jury before returns to the courtroom may be considered evidence of deadlock. Second, after such due deliberation has occurred, if the jury comes back twice claiming to be deadlocked, the judge must receive the jury’s consent before requiring them to deliberate further. As made clear by the majority’s opinion, this consent can be either expressed or implied based on the situation.