7.Charge Requests and Objections
11 linesTHE COURT: All right, Mr. Secor, anything on the record before I charge them, go ahead.
CASEY SECOR: Your Honor, we admitted Defense request to charge as Court's Exhibit 106.
COURT REPORTER: 106.
CASEY SECOR: 106. Thank you. And I just wanted to make a record about a couple of issues.
THE COURT: And we had a charge conference in the back in my chambers before lunch and this is -- you're making a record of some of the things we discussed.
CASEY SECOR: Yes, sir. I think the majority of them were resolved in the conference with Your Honor. I just wanted to make a record on a couple of issues. The Defense has requested a charge on involuntary intoxication. My understanding is the Court is not inclined to charge that. I just wanted to make a record regarding that. The requested charge is in Court's Exhibit 106 and it is from South Carolina requested charge by Judge Ralph King Anderson. And I won't read it because it's in the record, but I just wanted to cite State vs. Santiago, 370 S.C. 153 from 2006 to the proposition that if there's any evidence to support a jury charge, the trial Judge should grant the request to charge. Refusing to grant a request to jury charge that states a sound principle of law applicable to the case at hand is an error of law. And we would argue that the requested charge by the Defense from Ralph King Anderson's South Carolina Request to Charge is a sound principle of law and supported by the evidence presented, specifically with regard to the issue of Chantix, which has been testified to by experts in the case and the potential side effects which can include irritability, violence and homicidal/suicidal ideation. The other thing I wanted to address specifically, Your Honor, is the request for a charge on the consequences of a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity and the consequences of a verdict of guilty but mentally ill. These are pursuant to pretrial motions filed by the Defense that we requested in Court's Exhibit 106 that the Court instruct the jury on the plain language of the statute regarding not guilty by reason or insanity as well as guilty but mentally ill. May I have just a moment?
THE COURT: Yes, sir. And for my record, the request on the consequences as against Poindexter currently stands.
CASEY SECOR: We would just ask that our objections to the Court's decision to not charge consequences of NGRI, consequences of GBMI as well as the charge on involuntary intoxication, we just ask that the Court note our objection to those.
THE COURT: All right. The objections are so noted.
CASEY SECOR: Thank you.
THE COURT: Y'all ready. Bring them in. (Whereupon, the jury came into open court at approximately 4:01 p.m.)