Del. P.J.I. Crim. No. 4.40A

HUNG JURY SUPPLEMENTAL CHARGE

Members of the jury, I have a note indicating that you have not yet been able

to reach a unanimous verdict. You have been deliberating for over 2 hours. Although

that may seem like a long time to you, it is a relatively short period for jury

deliberations in view of the serious nature of this case.

This trial has consumed time, energy, emotions and resources of the State, the

victim's family and the defendant. If you should fail to agree upon a verdict, this case

will remain open and undecided and must be disposed of at some later time. There

appears to be no reason to believe that another trial would not be equally taxing on

the resources of all those involved, nor does there appear to be any reason to believe

that another jury, viewing the same evidence, would face a less difficult decision.

Since it is your duty to reach a unanimous verdict if you are able to do so

without violating your individual judgment and conscience, I will ask you to resume

your deliberations and, in addition to the instructions previously given to you, to

consider the following principles during your renewed deliberations:

a. Every juror, as part of the deliberation process, should consider and

weigh the recollections and opinions of every other juror in reaching his

or her conclusions. The collective memory, experience, judgment and

common sense of the entire jury panel should provide the basis for each

juror's individual decision.

b. In the course of deliberations, a juror should not hesitate to reexamine

his or her own views and change an opinion if the juror is convinced by

a review of the evidence, the law and the logic of other jurors that such

opinion is erroneous; and

c. No juror should surrender his or her honest conviction as to the weight

or effect of the evidence solely because of the opinions of the other jurors

or for the mere purpose of returning a verdict.

I wish to emphasize that, by making these remarks, the Court is not intending

in any way to suggest what your verdict should be. You may conduct your

deliberations as you choose, but I suggest that you should now retire to

carefully reconsider all the evidence bearing upon the questions before the jury

and the opinions of the other jurors relating to the evidence in determining

whether or not you are able to fulfill your duty to reach a unanimous verdict

without violating your individual judgment and conscience.

The jury will now retire to continue its deliberations.