Court Opinion

ID: 9686993
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 16:13:25.276924+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:23.639425
License: Public Domain

ZASTROW, Justice
(concurring specially)-
I concur in the majority opinion.
Although this decision has reaffirmed the right of a jury to return inconsistent verdicts, it should not be considered as authority that the trial court need not attempt to prevent inconsistent verdicts by proper instructions. Although a verdict of acquittal for burglary is not always inconsistent with a conviction for larceny (see Annot., 18 A.L. R.3d § 22[a], p. 332) under the facts of this case, the larceny could only have been committed upon the successful burglary of the Drive-In Radio Shop. The court should have given an instruction which would have properly apprised the jury that if it found the defendant was not guilty of burglary, it must, likewise, acquit him of grand larceny.