Garner v. State
Garner v. State
Opinion
William Garner III was convicted in the Circuit Court of Geneva County for two counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, violations of §
"In the meantime, until you have reached your verdict and until the verdict has been received and you have been discharged, it will be necessary that you stay together. If y'all are unable to reach a verdict, then we'll discuss about separating for the night, but I think you'll be able to conclude this, or I certainly hope you will be, before time for us to break for the night."
(R. 157.) Garner's counsel subsequently moved for a mistrial outside the presence of the jury, arguing that the judge's comments had improperly implied that the jury must reach a verdict before the end of the day. (R. 158.) The trial judge denied the motion, and he then made the following statement to the jury:
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defense has made an objection to something I said. When I told y'all I hoped y'all would be through today, I did not mean to imply in any way that *Page 251 you should return a quick decision, either a quick decision to acquit or a quick decision to convict.
"You should take your time and deliberate — take as much time as you need to discuss the evidence in this case. And I want to make sure you understand that I'm not pushing y'all to do anything, either to acquit or convict.
"It's about a quarter until four in the afternoon, and I had just hoped that we wouldn't have to separate for the night, but if we need to, we'll certainly do that."
(R. 159-60.) Following the judge's statements, Garner's counsel renewed his motion for a mistrial, and the judge again denied the motion. (R. 160-61.) The jury returned with a verdict at 6:20 p.m., after deliberating for approximately two hours. (R. 163, 165.)
When the trial judge is charging the jury, his words must "not contain even `the least appearance of duress or coercion.'" Freeman v. State,
Considering the totality of the circumstances, we find that the trial judge's statements were not coercive. As indicated by the portion of the record reproduced above, the judge told the jury that it would be necessary for the jury members to stay together until they reached a verdict. He then stated that he hoped they would "conclude" by the end of the day. After Garner requested a mistrial, the judge cured any error that his remarks may have caused. He told the jury that he did not intend to imply that the jury should quickly return a verdict to acquit or to convict. The judge made all of these remarks before the jury began deliberating. Other cases holding that statements made by the judge to the jury during deliberations were coercive are easily distinguishable. See Freeman, 659 So.2d at 161 (holding that the "repeated admonitions to the minority on the jury that it should conform with the majority clearly suggested which way the verdict should be returned"); Voyles, 596 So.2d at 38 (holding that the cumulative effect of repeated remarks by two judges about the need for the jury to reach a verdict during its deliberations was unduly coercive). Likewise, if the trial judge's comments would have suggested what verdict he would like the jury to return, Garner would have a strong argument that the judge was being coercive. The trial judge did not make this type of suggestion, however.
It is important to note that during his instructions to the jury and before he made the remarks at issue here, the judge stated:
"I have no opinion as to the facts in this case, and I do not want you to think that anything that I have said in this charge or otherwise, or any rulings that *Page 252 I have made, that I think one way or the other about the facts."
(R. 155.) Through this instruction, the judge clearly relayed to the jury that he was unbiased as to the verdict it should return.
Our review of the substance and timing of the judge's remarks, his curative statement to the jury following Garner's motion for a mistrial, and his jury instruction before he made the remarks convinces us that the judge's remarks were not coercive. Thus, the judge's denial of Garner's motion for a mistrial was proper, and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Rule 103(b), Ala.R.Evid., provides that "[t]he court may add any other or further statement which shows the character of . . . the objection made." This rule "recognizes the discretionary power of the trial court to supplement an offer of proof or an objection with a clarifying statement." Ala.R.Evid. 103(b), advisory committee's notes. While Garner raised his objection outside the presence of the jury, nothing precluded the judge from referring to this objection in the presence of the jury.
The trial judge informed the jury that the defense had objected to the comments the judge made at the close of the jury charge. The judge then clarified his statements in an effort to eliminate any misleading inferences that the jury may have drawn from the judge's remarks. This clarification was completely within the judge's discretion. See Ala.R.Evid. 103(b). Moreover, Garner failed to show that he suffered substantial harm from the judge's reference to Garner's objection. "Remarks by the trial judge may be open to criticism, but they are not [reversible] error unless they may have affected the result of the trial." Arnold v. State,
This case is due to be remanded to the circuit court for resentencing. The intent behind the enhancement statutes "is that the five-year penalties shall not run concurrently with each other or any other sentence imposed." Fletcher v. State,
In accordance with the State's request, we remand this case to the trial court for resentencing in accordance with the enhancement provisions of §§
For the above-stated reasons, Garner's convictions for two counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance are hereby affirmed, and this case is remanded for resentencing and the imposition of fines.
AFFIRMED AS TO CONVICTION; REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.
Long, P.J., and McMillan, Brown, and Baschab, JJ., concur.
Reference
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- William Garner III v. State.
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