United States v. Michael A. Ajiboye

Michael Ajiboye’s principal argument is that the district judge’s Allen charge improperly coerced the jury into returning guilty verdicts on both counts charged against him.

Facts

Ajiboye, a former mail carrier for the Postal Service, was charged with one count of theft of mail by a Postal Service employee and one count of possessing stolen mail. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1708 , 1709. He was tried before a jury. After a few hours of deliberation, the jurors sent a note to the trial judge informing him that they were unable to arrive at a verdict and that it was unlikely there would be a change in the vote. According to the district judge’s subsequent recollection, the note indicated that the jury was split 9-3 to convict on one count and 9-3 to acquit on the other. Out of the presence of the jury, the judge informed the parties that he was considering giving an Allen charge. See Allen v. United States, 164 U.S. 492, 501-02 , 17 S.Ct. 154, 157 , 41 L.Ed. 528 (1896). After defense objection, however, the judge decided to send a note to the jurors telling them to continue their deliberations.

The jurors deliberated for a few more hours and then sent another note informing the judge that…