California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Grimes, A156735 (Cal. App. 2020):
In a criminal case, a jury verdict must be unanimous. (People v. Collins (1976) 17 Cal.3d 687, 693; Cal. Const., art. I, 16.) This means that each individual juror must agree the defendant committed a specific offense.
Page 8
(People v. Russo (2001) 25 Cal.4th 1124, 1132.) Thus, "when the evidence suggests more than one discrete crime, either the prosecution must elect among the crimes or the court must require the jury to agree on the same criminal act." (Ibid.) Where the prosecutor does not elect the particular criminal act, a unanimity instruction addresses " 'the danger that the defendant will be convicted even though there is no single offense which all the jurors agree the defendant committed,' " and it " 'prevent[s] the jury from amalgamating evidence of multiple offenses, no one of which has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, in order to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant must have done something sufficient to convict.' " (Ibid.) A trial court has a sua sponte obligation to give a unanimity instruction when it is supported by the evidence. (People v. Covarrubias (2018) 1 Cal.5th 838, 877.)
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.