§ 1-33 Allen Charge (charge Used to Encourage a Deadlocked Jury to Reach a Verdict)

• Library: South Carolina Requests to Charge - Criminal (SCBar) (2023 Ed.)

§ 1-33 Allen Charge (Charge Used to Encourage a Deadlocked Jury to Reach a Verdict)

You stated you have been unable to agree on a verdict in this case. It is not always easy for even two people to agree. Therefore, when twelve people must agree, it becomes much more difficult.

In most cases, absolute certainty cannot be reached or expected. However, you have a duty to make every reasonable effort to reach a unanimous verdict.

In doing this, it is your duty to consult with one another, express your own views, consider each other's views, and discuss the evidence with the objective of reaching a unanimous verdict if you can do so without violence to your individual judgment. Each of you must decide the case for yourself, but do so only after discussion and impartial consideration of the evidence in the case with your fellow jurors.

Although the verdict of the jury must be unanimous, every one of you has the right to your own opinion. No juror is expected to give up his opinion based on reasoning satisfactory to himself merely for the purpose of being in agreement. The verdict you agree to must be your own verdict, the result of your own convictions, and you should not give up your firmly held beliefs merely to be in agreement with your fellow jurors.

The law does not require that a juror violate his or her conscience just to agree with the other jurors but the law does ask that each juror listen to the other jurors with an open mind, willing to be convinced, keeping in mind that you do not have to violate your conscience just to agree on a verdict.

You are not advocates for one side or the other. In the course of your deliberations, do not hesitate to reexamine your own views and to change your opinion if you are convinced you are wrong, but do not surrender your honest convictions as to the weight or the effect of the evidence solely because the opinion of your fellow jurors is contrary to your opinion or for the mere purpose of returning a verdict. If this case can be ended without a single one of you doing violence to your conscience, it is your duty as jurors to consult with one another and to deliberate with a view towards reaching an agreement, if you can do so without violence to your individual judgment.

The majority should consider the minority's position and the minority should consider the majority's position. You should carefully consider and respect the opinions of each other and reevaluate your position for reasonableness, correctness, and impartiality. You must lay aside all outside matters and reexamine the questions before you based on the law and evidence in this case.

If you do not agree on a verdict in this case, I must declare a mistrial. In that case, it does not mean that anyone wins. It means that at some future time I will try this case with some other jury sitting where you now sit. The same participants will come and the same lawyers will ask basically the same questions and get basically the same answers and we will go through the whole process again. Any future jury must be selected in the same manner and from the same source as you have been chosen. There is no reason to believe the case will ever be submitted to twelve more intelligent, impartial, conscientious, and competent jurors than you or to believe the case can be tried again, by...