Opinion

State v. Garvick

  • 98 N.C. App. 556
  • 392 S.E.2d 115
  • 1990 N.C. App. LEXIS 446
Court
Court of Appeals of North Carolina
Filed
Jun 5, 1990
Status
Published
Author
Greene
On the bench
Eagles, Greene, Parker
Cited by
3 cases
Authority
More cited than 19.1%

The opinion

Judge GREENE

concurring in part and dissenting in part.

While I agree with much in the majority opinion, I believe the defendant is entitled to a new trial on the grounds that the jury’s verdict of guilty is ambiguous and therefore fatally defective.

The jury rendered their verdict on the following verdict form:

We the jury unanimously find the defendant, George Alan Garvick:

Check (X) either:

1. X Guilty of impaired driving; or

2. _ Not guilty

*569 At trial the defendant objected to the verdict form used by the trial court and requested the trial court submit the following verdict form:

We, the twelve members of the jury, unanimously find the defendant to be:

_ 1. Guilty of impaired driving

_ (a) by driving while under the influence of an impairing substance

and/or

_ (b) by having consumed sufficient alcohol that at any relevant time after the driving the defendant had an alcohol concentration of 0.10 or more.

or

_ Not guilty.

This court has approved a verdict form similar to that submitted by the defendant since it avoids the risk of a nonunanimous verdict. See State v. Harrell, 96 N.C. App. 426, 433 , 386 S.E.2d 103, 106 (1989).

It is impossible to determine from the jury’s verdict whether the jurors unanimously thought the defendant guilty of impaired driving because of N.C.G.S. § 20-138.1(a)(l), because they unanimously thought the defendant guilty of N.C.G.S. § 20-138.1(a)(2), or because some jurors thought the defendant guilty because of § 20-138.1(a)(l) and some because of § 20-138.1(a)(2). Unless twelve jurors agree to one set of facts, unanimity has not occurred. Accordingly, I believe the defendant has been deprived of his constitutional right to be convicted by an unanimous jury. N.C. Const, art. I, § 24.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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