People v. Pagan
| Decision Date | 11 July 1978 |
| Parties | , 380 N.E.2d 299 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Carlos PAGAN, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.
After deliberating for five hours and finding themselves unable to reach a verdict, members of the jury were instructed that unlike this "simple case, as far as the amount of evidence to be covered is concerned * * * some cases last months, but the Jury is expected to come to a verdict." The court then noted that "sometimes a Jury can't reach a verdict" and that a deadlock had in fact occurred recently in a more involved case where disagreement had continued into the second day of deliberations despite a night of sequestration and reflection. Reluctant to again declare a mistrial, the court summed up its supplemental charge by calling upon the jury to renew deliberations and to "make every effort possible to arrive at a verdict."
Approximately one and a half hours later the foreman announced that the jury had reached a verdict of guilty. The defendant now contends that the trial court's supplemental instructions were impermissibly coercive.
To be sure a Trial Judge "must not attempt to coerce or compel the jury to agree upon a particular verdict, or any verdict" (People v. Faber, 199 N.Y. 256, 259, 92 N.E. 674, 675). Supplemental charges which prod jurors through prejudicial innuendoes or coerce them with untoward pressure to reach an agreement will not be countenanced (e. g., People v. Carter, 40 N.Y.2d 933, 934, 389 N.Y.S.2d 835, 836, 358 N.E.2d 517, 518; People v. Sheldon, 156 N.Y. 268, 282, 50 N.E. 840, 843).
On the other hand a trial court may properly discharge its responsibility to avoid mistrials by encouraging jurors to adhere to their oaths and make one final effort to review the evidence and reach a verdict one way or the other (People v. Faber, supra, p. 258, 92 N.E. p. 676). And under appropriate circumstances the availability of sequestration at a hotel for the night may also be noted as a possibility, although not as a threat (People v. Sharff, 38 N.Y.2d 751, 753, 381 N.Y.S.2d 48, 49, 343 N.E.2d 765, 766).
Here, although the...
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...People v. Aleman , 12 N.Y.3d 806, 880 N.Y.S.2d 894 (2009); People v. Aponte, 2 N.Y.3d 304, 778 N.Y.S.2d 447 (2004); People v. Pagan , 45 N.Y.2d 725, 408 N.Y.S.2d 497 (1978); People v. Mercado-Ramos , 161 A.D.3d 1516, 75 N.Y.S.3d 752 (4th Dept. 2018) (the trial court provided a proper Allen ......
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