United States v. Clarence Christian Nelson

Nelson appeals his conviction on 13 counts including conspiracy and misapplication of bank funds. He argues that the district judge erred in entering judgment against him because the jury’s verdicts were not unanimous. We reverse.

Nelson was the president of a small bank in Longview, Washington, when a grand jury returned a 13-count indictment against him in January, 1982. Count I charged him with conspiring with several unindicted persons to defraud the bank through false statements and misapplication of bank funds; the remaining counts charged him with engaging in various specific instances of misconduct with each of these persons, primarily in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 656 and 1005.

At the conclusion of the jury’s deliberations, the foreman passed to the court clerk a form indicating the jury had found Nelson guilty on all 13 counts. After the clerk announced the verdict, the judge ordered him to poll the jurors. When polled, each of the first ten jurors acknowledged the recorded verdicts as their verdicts and the verdicts of the jury. The eleventh juror, however, declared that she did not agree entirely with the verdict previously announced. The colloquy with the juror was…