From the Syllabus: "As permitted under Arkansas law, the jury’s options in this casewere limited to two: either convict on one of the offenses, or acquit on another option—that of acquitting on some offenses but not others."
There was no verdict that is recognized under the law in Arkansas. The majority simply refused to determine if the Arkansas law was in violation of the U.S. Constitution and declare the Arkansas law unconstitutional. This goes to show that even conservative justices can be so out of touch with the real world in their ivory tower.
It is idiocy and stupid jury instructions like that which have caused me to lose my faith in the judicial system.
I have jury duty next week and if some judge asks me whether or not I am going to follow his jury instructions I'm going to tell him that I probably won't.
In this case the law is clearly unconstitutional because it permits and even encourages double jeopardy by refusing to recognize a unanimous jury decision on one charge unless the jury makes a decision on all charges. It clearly encourages prosecutors to overcharge defendants.
The fact that this is a decision supported by so-called conservative justices tells me that their allegiance is to something other than the constitution.
I don't believe I live in a constitutional republic anymore.