Company: North Carolina General Assembly

North Carolina Attorney General Opinion

§ 15A‑1234.  Additional instructions.
(a)	After the jury retires for deliberation, the judge may give appropriate additional instructions to:
(1)	Respond to an inquiry of the jury made in open court; or
(2)	Correct or withdraw an erroneous instruction; or
(3)	Clarify an ambiguous instruction; or
(4)	Instruct the jury on a point of law which should have been covered in the original instructions.
(b)	At any time the judge gives additional instructions, he may also give or repeat other instructions to avoid giving undue prominence to the additional instructions.
(c)	Before the judge gives additional instructions, he must inform  the parties generally of the instructions he intends to give and afford them an opportunity to be heard. The parties upon request must be permitted additional argument to the jury if the additional instructions change, by restriction or enlargement, the permissible verdicts of the jury. Otherwise, the allowance of additional argument is within the discretion of the judge.
(d)	All additional instructions must be given in open court and must be made a part of the record. (1977, c. 711, s. 1.)

G.S. 15a-1234		Page