Early v. Packer, 537 U.S. 3, 4 (2002) (per curiam)

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6

EARLY v. PACKER

Per Curiam

the correct words: you're the sole judges of the facts. You determine the facts. You then apply the law to those facts as I state it to you, and you must accept and follow the law. You can't make up your own law. You must accept and follow the law as I state it to you.' " Id., at 575.

The judge then excused the jury for the day.

After a day off, deliberations resumed on a Friday. Once again, Radcliff sent the judge a note asking to be dismissed from the jury. This time she complained about " 'feeling[s] of distrust and disrespect from the other jurors,' " and said that " 'I have reached a point of anger, and I don't believe I can be objective.' " Ibid. The judge again met with Radcliff in his chambers, outside the presence of attorneys, and asked her if she was continuing to deliberate. Radcliff responded that she was "trying," but not to the satisfaction of the others. Id., at 576. The judge thanked her and returned her to the jury room. Then the judge met briefly with the foreman, who assured him that Radcliff was indeed continuing to deliberate. The jury then resumed its deliberations. The following Tuesday, the jury returned a guilty verdict on the attempted-murder count, and the next morning a guilty verdict on the second-degree murder charge.

Respondent appealed his conviction to the Court of Appeal for the State of California, Second Appellate District, arguing that the comments to Radcliff and to the jury were coercive and denied him his due process right to a fair and impartial jury. California law, unlike federal law, prohibits the giving of a so-called Allen v. United States, 164 U. S. 492 (1896), charge to a deadlocked jury—that is, a charge that specifically urges the minority jurors to give weight to the majority's views. People v. Gainer, 19 Cal. 3d 835, 852, 566 P. 2d 997, 1006 (1977), held that no instruction may be given which either "(1) encourages jurors to consider the numerical division or preponderance of opinion of the jury in forming

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