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State v. Steen8/18/2000
. His ribs and sternum were fractured and his heart had been ruptured. According to the pathologist, death would have resulted within three minutes of the rupture.
[ ] Steen was charged with negligent homicide under N.D.C.C. § 12.1-16-03, driving in violation of a restricted license under N.D.C.C. § 39-06-17, and leaving the scene of an accident involving death or personal injury under N.D.C.C. § 39-08-04. The jury found Steen guilty of all counts, and Steen was sentenced to five years of imprisonment, with two years suspended and five years of supervised probation beginning at the time of his release. Steen appealed.
II.
[ ] Steen argues his negligent homicide conviction should be reversed because the jury was given a general verdict form for negligent homicide which contained a special interrogatory inquiring whether the conviction was based in part on evidence of Steen operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
A.
[ ] At trial, the prosecutor requested the following verdict form be submitted to the jury.
We, the Jury duly impaneled and sworn in the above-entitled action, do find the Defendant, Vance Owen Steen, GUILTY of the crime of negligent homicide, as charged in the Information.
If you find the Defendant, Vance Owen Steen, guilty of the offense of negligent homicide as charged in the Information, please answer the following question: Is the conviction based in part on evidence of Vance Owen Steen's operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol? ANSWER: _____ Yes _______ No
The prosecutor argued the special interrogatory was appropriate because, under N.D.C.C. § 39-08-01.2(1)(a), a mandatory minimum sentence is required if a "person is convicted of an offense under chapter 12.1-16 and the conviction is based in part on the evidence of the person's operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. . . ." Steen argued the interrogatory was inappropriate because it related to a sentencing matter which was for the trial court to decide at the time of sentencing. The trial court agreed with Steen's argument, rejected the verdict form with the special interrogatory, and ruled a general verdict form would be used. Nevertheless, the jury was inadvertently given the rejected form for its deliberations, and answered the special interrogatory in the affirmative.
[ ] Generally, the rules of criminal procedure do not provide for special verdicts or general verdicts accompanied by special interrogatories as do the civil rules, and the only proper verdicts are guilty or not guilty. State v. Morris, 316 N.W.2d 80, 83 (N.D. 1982). Special verdicts or interrogatories in criminal cases are disfavored because they may "coerce the jurors into rendering a guilty verdict," State v. Sheldon, 301 N.W.2d 604, 614 (N.D. 1980), or "destroy the ability of the jury to deliberate upon the issue of guilt or innocence free of extraneous influences." State v. Simon, 398 A.2d 861, 865 (N.J. 1979). See also State v. Bartkowski, 290 N.W.2d 218, 222 (N.D. 1980); 3 Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure: Criminal 2d, § 512 (2d ed. 1982); 26 Moore's Federal Practice § 631.03 (3d ed. 1997). Thus, N.D.R.Crim.P. 31(e) provides for a special verdict form only in very limited circumstances in criminal trials, relating only to certain defenses raised by the defendant and overt acts of treason. See State v. Vetsch, 368 N.W.2d 547, 552 n.5 (N.D. 1985). Several courts have held the use of jury interrogatories in criminal trials is not per se impermissible. Their use has been approved in criminal trials where the special findings benefit the defendant, were neither inheren
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