California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Pitcher, 2d Crim. No. B262953 (Cal. App. 2017):
"Under the acquittal-first rule, a trial court may direct the order in which jury verdicts are returned by requiring an express acquittal on the charged crime before a verdict may be returned on a lesser included offense. [Citation.]" (People v. Bacon (2010) 50 Cal.4th 1082, 1110.) Jurors are free, however, to deliberate on the charges in any order and may thus discuss a lesser included offense before returning a verdict on the greater offense. (People v. Kurtzman (1988) 46 Cal.3d 322, 335-336.) The jury in this case was instructed pursuant to CALCRIM No. 3517 as follows: "It is up to you to decide the order in which you consider each crime and the relevant evidence, but I can accept a verdict of guilty of a lesser crime only if you have found the defendant not guilty of the corresponding greater crime."
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