Court Opinion

ID: 9632974
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 11:30:05.321164+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:08:26.149364
License: Public Domain

Concurring Opinion by
Justice ABRAMSON.
I concur because I cannot fault the majority’s analysis of the issue raised by the trial judge’s provision of information to the jury after they had retired for deliberations in the penalty phase. However, I am compelled to state even more emphatically that the trial judge is not, and should not be viewed, as a safety net for counsel, standing ready to supply what they have inadvertently omitted. Information conveyed by a trial judge typically is accorded heightened respect by jurors and the potential for undue emphasis is great. Only in the rarest of instances will this practice, in my view, pass muster.