California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Bailey, 238 Cal.Rptr.3d 139, 27 Cal.App.5th 376 (Cal. App. 2018):
To safeguard this fundamental right, the "Legislature has set forth in prescriptive detail the procedures that trial courts must follow in receiving a jury verdict." ( People v. Carbajal (2013) 56 Cal.4th 521, 530, 155 Cal.Rptr.3d 335, 298 P.3d 835.) When the jury announces it has reached a verdict, the officer in charge of the jurors must bring them to court. ( 1147.) Then, the court or clerk must ask the jurors if they have agreed on the verdict, "and if the foreman answers in the affirmative, they must, on being required, declare the same." ( 1149.) Before the verdict is recorded, either party may ask the court to poll the jurors individually. ( 1163.) If any juror answers "in the negative, the jury must be sent out for further deliberation." ( Ibid . )
This polling procedure allows the court to determine whether the written verdict form "represents the true verdict, i.e., the verdict that each and every juror is willing to hold to under the eyes of the world, or whether it is a product of mistake or unduly precipitous judgment." ( People v. Thornton (1984) 155 Cal.App.3d 845, 859, 202 Cal.Rptr. 448.) To assure that the verdict expresses the unanimous judgment of all jurors, "any juror is empowered
[238 Cal.Rptr.3d 144]
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