Accepting a Verdict Before Responding to Jury Requests for Further Instructions and a Readback of Testimony Was a Mode of Proceedings Error Requiring a New Trial

The Fourth Department, over a dissent, determined the trial court’s acceptance of a verdict before addressing jury notes requesting further instructions on the law and a readback of testimony constituted a mode of proceedings error requiring reversal and a new trial:

…”[T]here are few moments in a criminal trial more critical to its outcome than when the court responds to a deliberating jury’s request for clarification of the law or further guidance on the process of deliberations” … . The jury may have resolved the factual issue regarding whether the eyewitness testified that she saw defendant leave the scene without further instruction assistance from the court …. However, the request for a readback of the instruction on reasonable doubt, the determination of which is the crux of a jury’s function, and for a readback of the instruction regarding “the importance a single witness in a case versus multiple witnesses,” “demonstrates the confusion and doubt that existed in the minds of the jury with respect to . . . crucial issue[s] . . . The jury is entitled to the guidance of the court and may not be relegated to its own unfettered course of procedure” … . We therefore conclude that the court’s failure to respond to the jury’s notes seeking clarification of those instructions before the verdict was accepted “seriously prejudiced” defendant … . People v Mack, 2014 NY Slip Op 03075, 4th Dept 5-2-14