OUJI-CR 10-11

DEADLOCKED JURY CHARGE

This case has taken approximately [Specify Number] hours of trial time. You have deliberated for approximately [Specify Number] hours. You report to me that you are experiencing difficulty in arriving at a verdict.

This is an important case and a serious matter to all concerned. You are the exclusive judges of the facts; the court is the judge of the law. Now I most respectfully and earnestly request of you that you return to your jury room and resume your deliberations. Further open and frank discussion of the evidence and law submitted to you in this case may aid you in arriving at a verdict.

This does not mean that those favoring any particular position should surrender their honest convictions as to the weight or effect of any evidence solely because of the opinion of other jurors or because of the importance of arriving at a decision. No juror should ever agree to a verdict that is contrary to the law in the court's instructions, nor find a fact or concur in a verdict which in good conscience he or she believes to be untrue.

This does mean that you should give respectful consideration to each other's views and talk over any differences of opinion in the spirit of fairness and candor. If at all possible, you should resolve any differences and come to a common conclusion, that this case may be completed. Each juror should respect the opinion of his or her fellow jurors, as he or she would have them respect his or hers, in an earnest and diligent effort to arrive at a just verdict under the law and the evidence.

You may be as leisurely in your deliberations as the case may require and take all the time necessary. The giving of this instruction at this time in no way means that it is more important than any other instruction. On the contrary, you should consider this instruction together with and as part of the instructions which I previously gave you.

In stating the foregoing, I again repeat: you are the judges of the facts; the court is the judge of the law. In making all statements made to you I have not, nor do I now, express or intimate, nor indicate, in any way the conclusions to be reached by you in this case, nor do I intend in any way or manner to coerce a verdict, nor directly or indirectly to force a verdict in this case. I only ask that you return to your jury room and, again, diligently and earnestly under your oaths resume your deliberations.

Committee Comments

This "Allen" charge is virtually identical to that denominated "a model of fairness" by the Court of Criminal Appeals in Pickens v. State, 1979 OK CR 99, ¶¶ 10-11, 600 P.2d 356, 357-58. Similar instructions have been approved in numerous cases. See e.g., Thomas v. State, 1987 OK CR 113, ¶¶ 20-21, 741 P.2d 482, 488.

(2000 Supp.)