Nash v. State
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Defendant was charged with one count of murder in the first degree. The case proceeded to trial. During the jury’s deliberations and at 5 p.m. on the Friday before a three-holiday weekend, the foreperson of the jury submitted a note to the trial judge claiming that a fellow juror stated that she was willing to change her original position of voting “not guilty” if she could go home and not return to the courthouse. One-half of an hour later, the judge reminded the jurors of their proper duties. The following Tuesday, the jury found Defendant guilty of murder in the first degree. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial judge should have granted a mistrial based on the allegations in the note. The court of special appeals disagreed with Defendant and affirmed. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the trial judge, in dealing with the note, (1) did not abuse her discretion in denying Defendant’s motion for a mistrial and in refusing to give a modified Allen instruction; and (2) did not violate Maryland Rule 4-326(d) by recessing for the long weekend after giving additional instructions to the jurors.
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