After roughly 23 hours behind closed doors, jurors informed the court they had not been able to agree on a unanimous verdict.
Judge Sullivan addressed the panel in court, saying he had received their message: “After much deliberation, we are still unable to come to a unanimous decision.”
In response, Sullivan delivered the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction, often referred to as the “dynamite charge,” a directive meant to encourage deadlocked jurors to continue deliberating because they are considered best positioned to resolve the case.
Under Massachusetts procedure, the instruction is typically the final step before a judge may declare a mistrial.
“There is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to 12 persons more intelligent, more impartial or more competent to decide it. Or that more or clear evidence will be produced,” Sullivan told the jury.
He continued by reminding jurors of their responsibility to decide the case if they could do so in good conscience, while emphasizing that in a criminal trial the burden rests entirely with the Commonwealth to prove every element of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
“If you are left in doubt of any element of the crime, the defendant is entitled to the benefit of the doubt and must be acquitted,” Sullivan said.
The instruction directs jurors to make one last serious effort to reach a unanimous decision before the court considers ending the trial without a verdict.
The judge may give the jury the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction no more than twice; after that, a mistrial must be declared.
