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Friday, June 30, 2006

Dynamite and Deadlocked Juries

Judge Cottrell, writing for the Middle Section of the Tennessee Court of Appeals, authored an opinion that was released yesterday in Waters v. Coker regarding "dynamite charges" given to a deadlocked jury.

The court held that the charge given was prejudicial, reversed the trial court, and remanded the case for a new trial. (The first trial was a two week jury trial, too.)


The link to that opinion is as follows:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA
/2006/watersg063006.pdf

This case is a good reminder to counsel and the judiciary about how "dynamite charges" should be used. (I had forgotten about some of this and found the opinion to be a great reminder.)

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