Passages of a jury address

R. v. Sahota, 2011 ONCA 679 is a good source for the principle that a jury is entitled to listen to a passages of a jury address if they so wish:

 

 

[6]              The trial judge decided, based on the case law brought to his attention, that he should bring the jury back and instruct them that they could listen to counsel’s closing addresses if they wished to do so.  By the time the trial judge could carry out this decision, he was advised that the jury had arrived at a verdict.  The trial judge recalled the jury and before taking the verdict, told them that while transcripts of counsel’s arguments were not available, the reporter could read those arguments to the jury if they wished to hear them.  The trial judge asked the jury to retire and consider whether they wanted to listen to closing arguments before returning their verdict.  After briefly considering the matter, the jury returned to the courtroom, advised the trial judge that they no longer wished to hear the closing addresses and were prepared to return their verdict.  It returned a guilty verdict.

 

[7]              The trial judge should have told the jury in his initial response to their question that they could hear the closing addresses if they wished to do so.  The question on appeal is whether his correct response came too late in light of the jury’s indication that it had reached a verdict.