In State v. Christener, 71 N.J. 55, 362 A.2d 1153 (1976), defendant was indicted for murder and the Court charged the jury on that offense. It also submitted instructions concerning a possible conviction for manslaughter and the jury in fact found the defendant guilty of manslaughter. The Supreme Court found there had been insufficient evidence to support a murder conviction, and thus the murder charge should not have been submitted at all. Even though the jury convicted only of manslaughter, the Court noted that the "overcharge" had impliedly invited the jury to reach a compromise verdict on the lesser manslaughter charge: The primary concern . . . is the potentially prejudicial influence that an unsupported instruction will wield in jury deliberations. For instance, such instructions will often result in an unwarranted compromise verdict even if they do not produce a conviction on the more serious charge. State v. Christener, supra, 71 N.J. at 71, 362 A.2d 1153. The Court summed up its conclusions as follows: These policy considerations impel us to provide needed guidance on this substantive and crucial question. Henceforth, it should be regarded as error for a trial judge to deliver a jury instruction on a criminal charge for which there is no, or insufficient evidence to support the instruction. It must be assumed that the jury inferred by the giving of such an instruction that the elements of that charge were present in the case. Jurors are not skilled in legal techniques. They welcome an opportunity to compose differences and agree upon a compromise verdict. Id. at 73, 362 A.2d 1153.