United States v. Ofelia Garcia Lopez

The principal issue in this case is whether a defendant being tried by a jury in a federal criminal case may waive the right to a unanimous verdict. We hold that this right may not be waived and reverse the convictions. For the assistance of the district court in the event the case is retried, we also review the district court’s determination of a search and seizure question and affirm its ruling in that regard.

I

Ofelia Garcia Lopez was convicted on three counts of transporting and attempting to transport illegal aliens, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324 (a)(2) and on a single count of conspiracy to commit the offenses defined in 8 U.S.C. § 1324 , in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 . The case was tried before a jury.

Less than three hours after the jury had begun its deliberations, it informed the district judge that it was deadlocked. The judge directed the jury to continue deliberating. An hour and a half later the jury again informed the court that it was deadlocked. It was late in the afternoon and the judge told the jury that they should deliberate “for a further reasonable period of time” beginning at 9:00 the next morning. The jury deliberated the following day and at…