State v. Timmons

109 P.3d 1118, 141 Idaho 376, 2005 Ida. App. LEXIS 11
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 14, 2005
DocketNo. 30100
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 109 P.3d 1118 (State v. Timmons) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Timmons, 109 P.3d 1118, 141 Idaho 376, 2005 Ida. App. LEXIS 11 (Idaho Ct. App. 2005).

Opinions

LANSING, Judge.

Jennie Timmons appeals from the judgment of conviction entered after a jury found her guilty of aggravated assault. She contends that the district court’s response to a question from jurors, instructing them to continue deliberations, placed undue pressure on the jury and resulted in a coerced verdict. We affirm.

I.

BACKGROUND

As a result of an incident at a Shopko store, Timmons was charged with burglary, Idaho Code § 18-1401, and aggravated assault, I.C. §§ 18 — 901(b), -905(a). The case proceeded to a jury trial. On the second day of trial, at 3:35 p.m. the jury retired to deliberate. Approximately five hours later, the jury sent the court a note asking, “What happens if we reach a verdict on burglary and not on assault?” The court brought the jury back to the courtroom and engaged in the following exchange with the presiding juror:

THE COURT: So we have a unanimous verdict on one count?
JUROR 561: Correct
THE COURT: And on the other count, you have not been able to reach a unanimous verdict?
JUROR 561: Not up to this point.
[377]*377THE COURT: Do you think if you were allowed to go back in and spend some more time deliberating — and I want you to be careful how you answer the question, slowly and just what I’m asking. Do you think if you went back in and deliberated some more, reviewed the instructions, and considered the evidence, that the twelve members of the jury would be able to reach a verdict on the remaining count?
JUROR 561: It is possible.
THE COURT: Okay. That having been said, then, it would be the suggestion of this court — it’s about ten minutes to nine— that we recess at this time and that we have you come back in and commence deliberations at 8:30 in the morning.

The court then asked for a show of hands from the jurors expressing their preference between continuing deliberations that night or recessing for the evening. A majority of the jurors elected to resume deliberations that evening, and the court allowed them to do so. After the jury left the courtroom, Timmons’ counsel asked the court to inform the jurors that if they could not reach a unanimous verdict, the court would declare a mistrial and the case could be retried at the behest of the prosecutor. The court denied Timmons’ request. Approximately one hour later, the jury returned with unanimous verdicts of guilty on the assault charge and not ■ guilty on the burglary charge.

II.

ANALYSIS

On appeal, Timmons contends that the trial court committed error by directing the jury to continue its deliberations without directly answering the jury’s query concerning the consequence of an inability to reach a verdict on one count. She maintains that the court should have informed the jury that in the event of a hung jury, a mistrial would be declared and Timmons could be subjected to a second trial. She also asserts that the court should have reiterated to the jury an instruction that it had been given before deliberations began, Idaho Criminal Jury Instruction 204, which cautioned jurors not to “surrender your honest opinion as to the weight or effect of evidence or as to the innocence or guilt of the defendant because the majority of the jury feels otherwise or for the purpose of returning a unanimous verdict.” The trial court’s failure to take these steps, Timmons asserts, put undue pressure on the jury to reach a unanimous decision, resulting in a coerced verdict.

The due process clauses of the state and federal constitutions guarantee an accused a trial by a fair and impartial jury. State v. Lee, 131 Idaho 600, 605, 961 P.2d 1203, 1208 (Ct.App.1998). If jury deliberations are tainted by undue pressure, this constitutional guarantee is violated. Id. Idaho courts have found undue pressure where deadlocked juries were given a “dynamite instruction” that directed them to continue deliberating and exhorted minority view-holders to reconsider their positions. See State v. Flint, 114 Idaho 806, 761 P.2d 1158 (1988); State v. Clay, 112 Idaho 261, 731 P.2d 804 (Ct.App.1987). To avoid jury coercion, the Idaho Supreme Court has adopted a “blanket prohibition” against the use of such instructions. State v. Gomez, 137 Idaho 671, 676, 52 P.3d 315, 320 (2002); Flint, 114 Idaho at 812, 761 P.2d at 1164. However, in prohibiting the use of dynamite instructions, the Supreme Court specifically disclaimed any intent to prohibit instructions directing further deliberations where the jury is not definitely deadlocked:

Proscribing the use of dynamite instructions does not restrict a trial court ... from polling the individual jurors, and depending on the responses and appearances, then when appropriate guiding them toward another appropriate period of deliberation. This assumes, of course, that the jurors do not declare themselves deadlocked.

Flint, 114 Idaho at 813, 761 P.2d at 1165.

In the present case, we are unconvinced by Timmons’ contention that the trial court’s direction to the jury was coercive. On the contrary, the trial court did as suggested in Flint. The court first determined, based on the presiding juror’s acknowledgement that further deliberations might yield a unanimous verdict, that the jury was not yet deadlocked. The jurors never informed the court [378]*378that they were at an impasse and could not agree on a verdict. The court’s direction to continue deliberations plainly was in response to the presiding juror’s comment that a unanimous verdict was still possible. The court’s comments did not pressure the jury to reach a unanimous verdict nor suggest that minority jurors reconsider their positions.

Our conclusion draws support from State v. Byerly, 109 Idaho 242, 706 P.2d 1353 (Ct.App.1985), overruled on other grounds by State v. Flint, 114 Idaho 806, 761 P.2d 1158 (1988). In that case, after five hours of deliberations the jury delivered a note to the judge stating, “We feel we [may] have a hung jury so what do we do now?” The judge then engaged in an exchange in which he asked the jury foreman whether the foreman believed that the jury was at “a hopeless impasse.” The foreman responded that “it might not be hopeless, but it’s going to take a long time.” The judge then asked if it would be helpful to excuse the jury for the night, to allow a period of rest, and to reconvene in the morning.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
109 P.3d 1118, 141 Idaho 376, 2005 Ida. App. LEXIS 11, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-timmons-idahoctapp-2005.