Each of you must decide the case for yourself, but you should do so only after considering all the evidence, discussing it fully with the other jurors, and listening to the views of the other jurors.
Do not be afraid to change your opinion if you think you are wrong. But do not come to a decision simply because other jurors think it is right.
This case has taken time and effort to prepare and try. There is no reason to think it could be better tried or that another jury is better qualified to decide it. It is important therefore that you reach a verdict if you can do so conscientiously. If it looks at some point as if you may have difficulty in reaching a unanimous verdict, and if the greater number of you are agreed on a verdict, the jurors in both the majority and the minority should reexamine their positions to see whether they have given careful consideration and sufficient weight to the evidence that has favorably impressed the jurors who disagree with them. You should not hesitate to reconsider your views from time to time and to change them if you are persuaded that this is appropriate.
It is important that you attempt to return a verdict, but of course, only if each of you can do so after having made your own conscientious determination. Do not surrender an honest conviction as to the weight and effect of the evidence simply to reach a verdict.
Comment(s)
This is not an Allen charge for a deadlocked jury. See Instruction 6.06. Some authority outside the First Circuit, however, holds that an instruction like this in the general charge makes a later supplemental charge to a deadlocked jury more sustainable. See United States v. Brown, 634 F.2d 1069, 1070 (7th Cir. 1980) (requiring this type of charge as a precondition for a later supplemental charge); Comment to Eighth Circuit Instruction 10.02 ( preferable ); accord United States v. Rodriguez-Mejia, 20 F.3d 1090, 1091-92 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1045 (1994); United States v. Williams, 624 F.2d 75, 76-77 (9th Cir. 1980); see also Comment to Sixth Circuit Instruction 8.04.