What is the test for discharging a jury when there is a deadlock?

Penal Code section 1140 provides, "[T]he jury cannot be discharged after the cause is submitted to them until they have agreed upon their verdict and rendered it in open court, unless by consent of both parties, entered upon the minutes, or unless, at the expiration of such time as the court may deem proper, it satisfactorily appears that there is no reasonable probability that the jury can agree." The determination of whether there is a reasonable probability of agreement rests in the sound discretion of the trial court, but the court "must exercise its power . . . without coercion of the jury, so as to avoid displacing the jury's independent judgment 'in favor of considerations of compromise and expediency.' " (People v. Rodriguez (1986) 42 Cal.3d 730, 775 (Rodriguez).)

"Coercion has been found where the trial court, by insisting on further deliberations, expressed an opinion that a verdict should be reached." (Rodriguez, supra, 42 Cal.3d at p. 775.) On the other hand, directing further deliberations is proper when such direction "would be perceived ' "as a means of enabling the jurors to enhance their understanding of the case rather than as mere pressure to reach a verdict on the basis of matters already discussed and considered." ' " (People v. Proctor (1992) 4 Cal.4th 499, 539.)

There was no jury coercion in this case. When first advised of the deadlock, the court inquired about the nature of the split without finding out how many jurors were for conviction and how many were for acquittal. (See People v. Gill (1997) 60 Cal.App.4th 743, 748.) The jury had at that time been deliberating for over two days, but much of that time had been consumed with the readback of testimony and the case involved several

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