State v. Howard

537 N.E.2d 188, 42 Ohio St. 3d 18, 1989 Ohio LEXIS 30
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedApril 12, 1989
DocketNo. 87-2154
StatusPublished
Cited by199 cases

This text of 537 N.E.2d 188 (State v. Howard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Howard, 537 N.E.2d 188, 42 Ohio St. 3d 18, 1989 Ohio LEXIS 30 (Ohio 1989).

Opinions

Douglas, J.

The sole issue before [21]*21this court is whether the supplemental jury instruction given to the jury on July 31,1981 was coercive in the sense that it pressured members of the jury who were in the minority to abandon their positions. The essential question becomes whether the supplemental instruction given to the jury by the trial judge, known as the Allen charge, is allowed in Ohio.

The Allen charge or “dynamite” charge, as it is also known, arises from Allen v. United States (1896), 164 U.S. 492. In Allen, the United States Supreme Court set forth a summary of the supplemental instruction given by the trial court:

“* * * [Although the verdict must be the verdict of each individual juror, and not a mere acquiescence in the conclusion of his fellows, yet they should examine the question submitted with candor and with a proper regard and deference to the opinions of each other; that it was their duty to decide the case if they could conscientiously do so; that they should listen, with a disposition to be convinced, to each other’s arguments; that, if much the larger number were for conviction, a dissenting juror should consider whether his doubt was a reasonable one which made no impression upon the minds of so many men, equally honest, equally intelligent with himself. If, upon the other hand, the majority was for acquittal, the minority ought to ask themselves whether they might not reasonably doubt the correctness of a judgment which was not concurred in by the majority. * * *”

This is, in essence, what the supplemental jury instruction in the case before us stated. In fact, the complete language of the supplemental instruction given by the judge in Allen is nearly, though not exactly, the same as the language of the supplemental instruction given in this case.3

[22]*22Although the trial judge gave a supplemental charge to the jury that substantially conformed to the traditional Alim charge, it is clear that Ohio has neither adopted nor rejected the Allen charge as a proper supplemental instruction. As we stated in State v. Maupin (1975), 42 Ohio St. 2d 473, 484, 71 O.O. 2d 485, 491, 330 N.E. 2d 708, 715, “* * * the original Alim charge has never been a part of Ohio jurisprudence.” We now directly meet the issue and find that the trial judge’s supplemental instruction was improper.

The Allen charge has long been the subject of criticism from legal scholars.4 The brunt of this criticism is directed at the potentially coercive impact the language of the Allen charge can have on a jury. The criticism centers on the effect of language advising the jury that a decision must be reached, thereby depriving either the state or the defendant of the possibility of a hung jury and a mistrial. In addition, and of particular importance to this court, is the criticism that the Allen charge is unduly coercive to members of the jury in the minority because it, in effect, orders those members to reevaluate their position in light of the fact that fellow jurors are unswayed, but does not require jurors in the majority to undertake a corresponding reevaluation. The effect of this charge is to place the authority of the trial judge behind the position of the majority. This, potentially, creates a force that few dissenting jurors can resist. It subtly changes the requirement that the jury verdict be unanimous to one more closely resembling majority rule.

The criticism of the Allen charge has not fallen on deaf ears. Many jurisdictions have either modified the Allen charge or abandoned it entirely because, as the state of Arizona concluded in abandoning Allen, in State v. Thomas (1959), 86 Ariz. 161, 166, 342 P. 2d 197, 200, “* * * the evils far outweigh the benefits * * *” of continuing its use. Other jurisdictions abandoning or modifying the Allen charge are the District of Columbia in Winters v. United States (D.C. App. 1974), 317 A. 2d 530, Colorado in Taylor v. People (1971), 176 Colo. 316, 490 P. 2d 292, and California in People v. Gainer (1977), 19 Cal. 3d 835, 139 Cal. Rptr. 861, 566 P. 2d 997.5

[23]*23In addition to the foregoing states that have acted to abandon or modify the Allen charge, several federal courts have taken the same steps. Using supervisory power over courts within their circuits, federal courts of appeals have prohibited use of the Allen charge, to the extent that it tends to coerce jurors in the minority to defer to those in the majority, in United States v. Silvern (C.A.7, 1973), 484 F. 2d 879, United States v. Thomas (C.A.D.C. 1971), 449 F. 2d 1177, and United States v. Fioravanti (C.A.3, 1969), 412 F. 2d 407. Other circuits have limited the use of Allen charges. See United States v. Scott (C.A.6, 1977), 547 F. 2d 334, and United States v. Angiulo (C.A.1, 1973), 485 F. 2d 37.

In short, we firmly position ourselves with those jurisdictions that have abandoned the traditional Allen charge.6 Our reasoning today echoes the criticism of the Allen charge voiced by this court in Maupin, supra, at 483, 71 O.O. 2d at 490, 330 N.E. 2d at 715, where we stated:

“* * * The principle [sic] and most frequent reason advanced [for rejecting the Allen charge] is that it lacks balance; that the thrust of the Alien instruction is directed to the minority jurors only and is potentially coercive upon them to agree with those jurors constituting the majority.” (Citations omitted.)

Accordingly, since we find that the use of the Allen charge was improper, we agree with the court of appeals that failure by appellee’s former counsel to raise this error on direct appeal, for whatever reason, constituted ineffective assistance of counsel, in violation of appellee’s rights as guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and Section 10, Article I of the Ohio Constitution. Certainly the facts of this case, where only one hour after the Allen charge was given, a unanimous verdict was reached when nearly two and one-half days of deliberation had failed to produce agreement, raise at least the inference of coercion affecting appellee’s substantial right to a fair and impartial jury. “The test in determining if the accused had effective retained counsel is whether the accused, under all the circumstances, including the fact that he had retained counsel, had a fair trial and substantial justice was done.” State v. Hester (1976), 45 Ohio St. 2d 71, 74 O.O. 2d 156, 341 N.E. 2d 304, paragraph four of the syllabus. We agree with the court of appeals that substantial justice was not accorded to the appellee herein and that his case should be remanded to the trial court for a new trial.

Though we have determined that the use of the traditional Allen charge is improper, our duty is not yet complete. We would be remiss in our responsibility of supervising lower courts if we did not provide a supplemental instruction that, in our opinion, avoids the pitfalls of the traditional Allen

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
537 N.E.2d 188, 42 Ohio St. 3d 18, 1989 Ohio LEXIS 30, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-howard-ohio-1989.