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Article 310 - NY Criminal Procedure Law

• NY Laws ›
• CPL ›
• Part 2 ›
• Title J ›
• Article 310

 S 310.10 Jury deliberation; requirement of; where conducted.
    1.  Following  the  court's  charge,  except  as otherwise provided by
  subdivision two of this section, the jury must retire to deliberate upon
  its verdict in a place outside the courtroom. It must be  provided  with
  suitable  accommodations therefor and must, except as otherwise provided
  in subdivision two of this section, be continuously kept together  under
  the  supervision of a court officer or court officers. In the event such
  court officer or court officers are not available,  the  jury  shall  be
  under  the  supervision  of  an  appropriate  public  servant  or public
  servants. Except when so authorized by  the  court  or  when  performing
  administerial  duties with respect to the jurors, such court officers or
  public servants, as the case may be, may not  speak  to  or  communicate
  with them or permit any other person to do so.
    2.  At  any  time  after  the  jury  has been charged or commenced its
  deliberations, and after  notice  to  the  parties  and  affording  such
  parties an opportunity to be heard on the record outside of the presence
  of the jury, the court may declare the deliberations to be in recess and
  may  thereupon  direct  the  jury  to  suspend  its deliberations and to
  separate for a reasonable period of time to be specified by  the  court,
  not  to exceed twenty-four hours, except that in the case of a Saturday,
  Sunday or holiday, such separation may extend  beyond  such  twenty-four
  hour  period.  Before  each  recess, the court must admonish the jury as
  provided in section 270.40 of this chapter and direct it not  to  resume
  its  deliberations  until  all  twelve  jurors  have  reassembled in the
  designated place at the termination of the declared recess.

S 310.20 Jury deliberation; use of exhibits and other material.
     Upon retiring to deliberate, the jurors may take with them:
    1.  Any  exhibits  received  in evidence at the trial which the court,
  after according the parties an opportunity to be heard upon the  matter,
  in its discretion permits them to take;
    2.  A  written  list  prepared  by  the  court containing the offenses
  submitted to the jury by the  court  in  its  charge  and  the  possible
  verdicts thereon. Whenever the court submits two or more counts charging
  offenses  set  forth  in  the same article of the law, the court may set
  forth the dates, names of complainants or specific  statutory  language,
  without  defining  the  terms, by which the counts may be distinguished;
  provided, however, that the court shall instruct the jury in its  charge
  that  the  sole  purpose  of the notations is to distinguish between the
  counts; and
    3. A written list prepared by the court containing the names of  every
  witness whose testimony has been presented during the trial, if the jury
  requests  such  a list and the court, in its discretion, determines that
  such a list will assist the jury.

S 310.30 Jury deliberation; request for information.
  At  any  time  during its deliberation, the jury may request the court
  for further instruction or information with respect  to  the  law,  with
  respect  to  the  content  or  substance  of any trial evidence, or with
  respect to any other matter pertinent to the jury's consideration of the
  case.  Upon such a request, the court  must  direct  that  the  jury  be
  returned  to  the  courtroom  and,  after  notice to both the people and
  counsel for the defendant, and in the presence of  the  defendant,  must
  give  such  requested  information  or  instruction  as  the court deems
  proper. With the consent of the parties and upon the request of the jury
  for further instruction with respect to a statute, the  court  may  also
  give  to  the  jury  copies  of  the  text  of any statute which, in its
  discretion, the court deems proper.

S 310.40 Verdict; rendition thereof.
  1. The verdict must be rendered and announced by the foreperson of the
  jury  in  the  courtroom in the presence of the court, a prosecutor, the
  defendant's counsel and the defendant; provided, however, that where the
  foreperson refuses or is unable to render and announce the verdict,  the
  court may designate another member of the jury to do so.
    2.  Before rendering and announcing the verdict, the foreperson of the
  jury, or such other member of the jury as may be designated by the court
  pursuant to subdivision one, must be asked whether the jury  has  agreed
  upon a verdict and must answer in the affirmative.

S 310.50 Verdict; form; reconsideration of defective verdict.
    1.    The  form  of the verdict must be in accordance with the court's
  instructions, as prescribed in article three hundred.
    2.  If the jury renders a verdict which in form is not  in  accordance
  with  the  court's instructions or which is otherwise legally defective,
  the court must explain the defect or error and must direct the  jury  to
  reconsider  such  verdict,  to resume its deliberation for such purpose,
  and to render a proper verdict.   If the jury persists  in  rendering  a
  defective  or  improper  verdict, the court may in its discretion either
  order that the verdict in its entirety as to any defendant  be  recorded
  as an acquittal, or discharge the jury and authorize the people to retry
  the  indictment  or  a  specified  count  or  counts  thereof as to such
  defendant; provided that if it is clear that the jury intended to find a
  defendant not guilty upon any particular count,  the  court  must  order
  that the verdict be recorded as an acquittal of such defendant upon such
  count.
    3.  If the court accepts a verdict which is defective or incomplete by
  reason  of  the jury's failure to render a verdict upon every count upon
  which it was instructed to do so, such verdict is deemed  to  constitute
  an acquittal upon every such count improperly ignored in the verdict.
    4.  In  a  prosecution  involving a charge of enterprise corruption in
  violation of article four hundred sixty of the penal law, the jury  must
  separately and specifically render a special verdict with regard to each
  criminal   act  and  any  lesser  included  offense  submitted  for  its
  consideration as a part of a pattern of criminal activity in addition to
  its verdict on the charge of enterprise corruption. In the absence of  a
  unanimous  special  verdict  of  guilty  with regard to each of at least
  three criminal acts and/or lesser included offenses  submitted  for  its
  consideration   and   legally   sufficient   to  constitute  a  person's
  participation in a pattern of criminal activity within  the  meaning  of
  subdivision  four  of  section  460.10  of the penal law, the court must
  order that the verdict on the count charging  enterprise  corruption  be
  recorded as an acquittal.

S 310.60 Discharge of jury before rendition of verdict and effect thereof.
    1.  A deliberating jury may be discharged by the court without  having
  rendered a verdict only when:
    (a)   The jury has deliberated for an extensive period of time without
  agreeing upon a verdict with respect to any of the charges submitted and
  the court is satisfied that any such  agreement  is  unlikely  within  a
  reasonable time; or
    (b)    The  court,  the  defendant  and the people all consent to such
  discharge; or
    (c)  A mistrial is declared pursuant to section 280.10.
    2.  When the jury is so discharged, the defendant or defendants may be
  retried upon the indictment.   Upon  such  retrial,  the  indictment  is
  deemed to contain all counts which it contained, except those which were
  dismissed  or  were  deemed to have resulted in an acquittal pursuant to
  subdivision one of section 290.10.

S 310.70 Rendition of partial verdict and effect thereof.
    1.  If a deliberating jury declares that it has reached a verdict with
  respect  to  one or more but not all of the offenses submitted to it, or
  with respect to one or more but not all of  the  defendants,  the  court
  must proceed as follows:
    (a)    If  the  possibility  of ultimate agreement with respect to the
  other submitted offenses or defendants is so small and the circumstances
  are such that if they were the  only  matters  under  consideration  the
  court  would  be  authorized to discharge the jury pursuant to paragraph
  (a) of subdivision one of section 310.60, the court must  terminate  the
  deliberation and order the jury to render a partial verdict with respect
  to  those  offenses and defendants upon which or with respect to whom it
  has reached a verdict;
    (b)  If the court is satisfied that there is a reasonable  possibility
  of  ultimate  agreement upon any of the unresolved offenses with respect
  to any defendant, it may either:
    (i)   Order the jury to render  its  verdict  with  respect  to  those
  offenses  and  defendants  upon  which  or  with  respect to whom it has
  reached agreement and resume its deliberation upon the remainder; or
    (ii)  Refuse to accept a partial verdict at the  time  and  order  the
  jury to resume its deliberation upon the entire case.
    2.    Following  the  rendition  of  a  partial  verdict  pursuant  to
  subdivision one, a defendant may be retried for  any  submitted  offense
  upon which the jury was unable to agree unless:
    (a)  A verdict of conviction thereon would have been inconsistent with
  a  verdict,  of  either  conviction or acquittal, actually rendered with
  respect to some other offense, or
    (b)  The submitted offense which was the subject of the  disagreement,
  and  some other submitted offense of higher or equal grade which was the
  subject of a verdict of conviction, were  so  related  that  consecutive
  sentences thereon could not have been imposed upon a defendant convicted
  of both such offenses.
    3.    As used in this section, a "submitted offense" means any offense
  submitted by the court  to  the  jury,  whether  it  be  one  which  was
  expressly  charged  in  a  count  of the indictment or a lesser included
  offense thereof submitted pursuant to section 300.50.

S 310.80 Recording and checking of verdict and polling of jury.
  After  a verdict has been rendered, it must be recorded on the minutes
  and read to the jury, and the jurors must be collectively asked  whether
  such is their verdict. Even though no juror makes any declaration in the
  negative,  the  jury must, if either party makes such an application, be
  polled and each juror separately asked whether the verdict announced  by
  the  foreman  is  in  all  respects  his  verdict.  If  upon  either the
  collective or the separate inquiry any juror answers  in  the  negative,
  the  court must refuse to accept the verdict and must direct the jury to
  resume its deliberation. If no disagreement is expressed, the jury  must
  be  discharged  from  the  case, except as otherwise provided in section
  400.27.

S 310.85 Verdict of guilty where defendant not criminally responsible.
  1.  Where a verdict of guilty is rendered with respect to a crime, but
  the  defendant is not criminally responsible for such crime by reason of
  infancy, the court shall proceed as provided in this section.
    2.  If a verdict of guilty also is rendered with respect  to  a  crime
  for  which  the defendant is criminally responsible, or if the defendant
  is awaiting sentence upon another criminal  conviction  or  is  under  a
  sentence  of  imprisonment  on  another criminal conviction, the verdict
  rendered with respect  to  a  crime  for  which  he  is  not  criminally
  responsible must be set aside and shall be deemed a nullity.
    3.    In  any  case  where  the  verdict  is not set aside pursuant to
  subdivision two of this section, the court must order that  the  verdict
  be   deemed   vacated  and  replaced  by  a  juvenile  delinquency  fact
  determination.  Upon so ordering, the court must direct that the  action
  be  removed  to  the  family  court in accordance with the provisions of
  article seven hundred twenty-five of this chapter.

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