Going to trial: Hung juries and the Allen charge

If you face criminal charges in Florida, it is your legal right to be tried by a jury of your peers. And, with the guidance of a skillful Miami criminal defense attorney, you can take comfort in the fact that you are doing all you can to present your case in the best light before the court.

In recent installments, we’ve outlined the many back and forths that occur throughout a criminal trial. In our last post, we established that in Florida, the jury deliberating your case must come to a unanimous conclusion about your guilt for you to be convicted.

But, what happens if the six or 12 jurors reviewing over your case can’t come to a consensus? This is referred to as a deadlocked or hung jury. According to the Florida Supreme Court, the judge may deliver additional instructions – known as an “Allen charge” – to encourage the jurors to continue in their deliberation. The name comes from an 1896 Supreme Court case, Allen v. The United States, which found that this added encouragement was not considered coercion.

The official charge used in Florida includes the following clarifications:

“There are two things a jury can lawfully do: agree on a verdict or disagree on what the facts of the case may truly be. There is nothing to disagree about on the law […] If you have any disagreements about the law, I should clear them up for you now. That should be my problem, not yours.”

The Florida Bar Association notes that a judge must read the designated Allen charge verbatim, or – if a modified version is used – it has to specify that the jurors are not obligated to reach a consensus, and they should by no means give up on their “conscientious concerns” in order to do so.

In our next post, we’ll discuss the consequences of a hung jury – as well as the steps your Miami criminal defense attorney may take if they believe the jurors have been coerced into a guilty verdict because of an improperly delivered Allen charge.