Terrence Curtis Gibbons v. the People of the State of Colorado

Summary

The court held that a trial court need not advise a deadlocked jury that failure to reach unanimity will result in a mistrial. It rejected both a mandatory-advisement rule and a categorical prohibition, instead permitting such an advisement in the trial court's discretion when the instruction and surrounding circumstances are noncoercive. Because the defendant did not preserve the issue and the instruction given was not coercive, the court affirmed. Justice Coats, joined by Chief Justice Rice and Justice Eid, concurred in part and in the judgment but criticized the majority's discretionary framework as uncertain.