Allen v. United States
United States Supreme Court
164 U.S. 492 (1896)
- Written by Salina Kennedy, JD
Facts
Allen (defendant) was tried for murder by the United States government (plaintiff). During Allen’s trial, the jury had difficulty reaching a verdict and asked the court for further instructions. The jury received lengthy additional instructions stating that it was unlikely that individual jurors would be absolutely certain about the appropriate verdict and that although each individual juror must agree with the ultimate verdict, they had an obligation to listen open-mindedly to each other’s arguments. The jurors were further instructed that, should the majority reach a conclusion, dissenting jurors should question the reasonableness of their own positions because a majority of equally honest, intelligent jurors had reached the opposite conclusion. After further deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict, and Allen was sentenced to death. Allen appealed his conviction, arguing that the jury instructions had been improper.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Brown, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 791,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
