The following excerpt is from United States v. Spruill, 808 F.3d 585 (2nd Cir. 2015):
verdict by the risk of ... the trial judge ... impos[ing] a harsher sentence on a non-consenting defendant...." Id. at 49091. Similarly, in United States v. Chavis, 719 F.2d 46 (2d Cir.1983), we held that even where defense counsel introduces the idea of accepting a non-unanimous verdict, we may conclude that the right to a unanimous jury was waived only where "the trial judge ha[s] made a searching inquiry to [e]nsure that the defendant was fully aware of his right to a unanimous verdict and that he had given up that right of his own free will and not as a result of a misunderstanding, or a promise, threat or someone's suggestion." Id. at 48.
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