A split state appeals panel has upheld a nine-year sentence in a shooting case even though the trial judge, in answer to a jury’s inquiry, indicated that he had reached a “definitive conclusion” on the critical issue of intent.
Writing for a three-judge majority, Justice David B. Saxe (See Profile) concluded that judges must be given leeway if they employ “inartful phrasing” in responding to a jury question which requires them to go beyond the formulations contained in the pattern jury instructions.
