34 results for 'cat:"Assault" AND cat:"Jury Instructions"'.
J. Fox finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of murder and assault. Defendant claims that the lower court improperly failed to instruct the jury on a mental illness defense, but defendant did not bring forward any real evidence that showed he met the criteria for such a defense. Affirmed.
Court: Wyoming Supreme Court, Judge: Fox, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: S-23-0154, Categories: Murder, assault, jury Instructions
J. Wadsworth finds a prosecutor improperly misrepresented blood and witness evidence during closing arguments against defendant, who was accused of the unprovoked stabbing of a teen girl. The prosecutor may have unduly influenced the jury by conflating defendant with a person seen washing blood off, as it was not established in testimony that the person seen was defendant. The prosecutor also alluded to stains on his shirt as being blood, though no evidence submitted indicated the stains were blood. However, evidence of the victim’s identification of the defendant as the person who stabbed her should not be suppressed, as nothing about her statements were influenced by police or compromised her ability to identify him. Vacated.
Court: Hawai'i Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wadsworth, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: CAAP-22-464, Categories: Prosecutorial Misconduct, assault, jury Instructions
J. Pagan finds the trial court erred by giving a jury instruction on defense of premises regarding the alleged victim’s actions when defendant was claiming self-defense against someone who used force against him. “The parties disputed the facts that would have made defendant’s self-defense claim viable, and a jury instruction that highlighted the alleged victim’s state of mind” detracted from the jury’s consideration of defendant’s state of mind. Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Pagan, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: A177313, Categories: Burglary, assault, jury Instructions
J. Yu finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's request for a new trial stemming from his child molestation conviction. Defendant claims that he is entitled to a new trial because his legal team did not propose a lesser included offense instruction for fourth-degree assault. Even if his counsel had requested the lesser instructions, they still would have been denied because there was no evidence on the record to support them. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Supreme Court, Judge: Yu, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 100953-4, Categories: assault, Child Victims, jury Instructions
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J. Pagan finds the trial court plainly erred by not instructing the jury that it must find a culpable mental state for the physical injury element of second-degree assault. The given instruction “did not state that a defendant must knowingly engage in assaultive conduct…[and] must be at least criminally negligent with respect to causing injury.” Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Pagan, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: A177094, Categories: assault, jury Instructions
J. Kennedy finds the trial improperly weighed the credibility of defendant's testimony and denied his request for a self-defense jury instruction during his attempted murder trial. Its job was simply to determine if there was adequate evidence to support each element of a self-defense claim. Defendant, a cab driver, proved he was not at fault for the altercation with a patron who refused to pay for his fare, while the fact the patron was heavily intoxicated and half the age of defendant supported defendant's claim he feared for his life when the patron followed him out of a convenient store. Therefore, his convictions will be vacated and the case remanded for a new trial. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Kennedy, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-539, Categories: assault, Self Defense, jury Instructions
J. Patton finds defendant was not denied the right to counsel when the assistant prosecutor berated his attorney on several occasions. Although the behavior was unprofessional and briefly interrupted the trial, the trial court admonished the prosecutor in chambers and issued an instruction to the jury, which prevented any structural error. Meanwhile, although the trial court should have included language about defendant's duty to retreat in its jury instruction on self-defense, evidence in the case indicated he was not lawfully at the home of the victim and initiated the dispute that led to the shooting, and so any additional language would not have changed the outcome of the trial. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Patton, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-505, Categories: Prosecutorial Misconduct, assault, jury Instructions
J. Maraman partially finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of the sexual assault of a 16-year-old. The prosecution did not vouch for the victim in a statement about her memory of the incident, as he was referencing evidence and there is sufficient evidence that the victim was physically helpless and unable to communicate properly due to severe intoxication. The jury’s consent instruction was also therefore proper, though the instruction regarding aiding and abetting was not. The instruction did not include that aiding abetting includes demonstrating specific intent of defendant and the two friends he committed the assault with, and the omission may have caused the jury to convict defendant of a separate assault charge. Affirmed in part.
Court: Guam Supreme Court, Judge: Maraman, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: CRA21-14, Categories: Sex Offender, assault, jury Instructions
[Consolidated.] J. Green affirms three juvenile defendants’ adjudications for resisting arrest, but vacates one of the defendant’s adjudication for assault and battery of a police officer. The self-defense instruction to the jury included language pertaining to deadly force even though the defendant didn’t use deadly force, and it failed to include information about defense of another, even though the defendant threw a punch at an officer after the officer blocked him as he attempted to check on his friend.
Court: Massachusetts Court Of Appeals, Judge: Green, Filed On: December 15, 2023, Case #: 22-P-787, Categories: Juvenile Law, assault, jury Instructions
J. Biles finds a lower court properly convicted a defendant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against her ex-husband's girlfriend. The defendant argued that the lower court erred in refusing to instruct a jury on a lesser included offense of simple assault. However, the State presented sufficient evidence in court that the jury instruction would have changed the outcome of her trial.
Court: Kansas Supreme Court, Judge: Biles, Filed On: December 1, 2023, Case #: 123,723, Categories: assault, Weapons, jury Instructions
J. Vaidik finds a lower court ruled correctly in convicting defendant on domestic abuse charges in an appeal concerning rules on jury instructions on “unanimity.” Despite defendant’s assertions to the contrary, a “special unanimity instruction” was not required in this case because the violence he was charged with was “part of one continuous episode” rather than discrete acts that the jury needed to evaluate separately. Affirmed.
Court: Indiana Court Of Appeals, Judge: Vaidik, Filed On: November 22, 2023, Case #: 23A-CR-1340, Categories: assault, Domestic Violence, jury Instructions
J. Easter finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of second degree murder and aggravated assault for his role in the shooting death of a 19-year-old drug dealer he was intending to rob. Defendant argues the jury was improperly instructed as to the issue of his alleged flight from the crime scene, but the instant court finds the jury was properly instructed. Evidence is sufficient to support his convictions and effective sentence of 21 years to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Affirmed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Easter, Filed On: November 3, 2023, Case #: E2022-01308-CCA-R3-CD, Categories: Murder, assault, jury Instructions
J. Matheson finds that the lower court properly convicted and sentenced defendant for assault. Defendant argues that the court improperly allowed certain testimony at trial, but the testimony in question was appropriate and offered up important medical expertise. Also, there is no evidence the jury's instructions injected prejudice against defendant. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Matheson, Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: 22-5076, Categories: assault, Witnesses, jury Instructions
J. Carpenter finds the trial court erroneously included a jury instruction that stated "a defendant does not have the right to use excessive force" during defendant's trial on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. Under North Carolina law and the Castle Doctrine, a homeowner can use deadly force. The jury was required to determine if the prosecution rebutted defendant's Castle Doctrine defense, and so the jury instruction was misleading and potentially confusing, which requires this court to vacate the conviction and remand for a new trial. Reversed.
Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals, Judge: Carpenter, Filed On: October 3, 2023, Case #: COA22-866, Categories: assault, jury Instructions
J. Duhart finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a self-defense jury instruction on the assault charge related to three warning shots fired after he initially shot the victim in the chest. Evidence indicates any danger had passed after the first shot struck the victim and the confrontation was effectively over. Defendant had started walking to his vehicle at the time he fired the warning shots, which clearly indicated he was not in fear for his life and intended to leave the scene. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Duhart, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-3543, Categories: Firearms, assault, jury Instructions
J. Hess finds the trial court properly denied defendant's request for a jury instruction on the lesser-included offense of negligent assault. Evidence in the record, including eyewitness testimony from several individuals, proved he fired more than one shot at the party and intentionally aimed his gun at the victim, which supported only a felonious assault charge and conviction. Meanwhile, even though several of the witnesses were intoxicated at the time of the crime, the jury was in the best position to determine their credibility, while video evidence also showed defendant with a gun immediately before the shooting. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hess, Filed On: September 25, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-3434, Categories: Firearms, assault, jury Instructions
[Consolidated] J. Horton finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for assault and unlawful possession of a firearm stemming from an altercation involving defendant choking his girlfriend, her son stabbing defendant, and defendant stealing a firearm in order to protect himself. Defendant was not harmed by the omission of his defense-of-property theory in the charge. Necessity is a confession and avoidance defense, which requires admitting to the conduct before benefitting from instructions on a necessity claim. The record doesn’t show defendant ever admitted he was in possession of a firearm, and so the court did not err in refusing to charge the jury on his necessity defense. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Horton , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 09-21-00346-CR, Categories: Firearms, assault, jury Instructions
[Consolidated] J. Wright finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for harassment of a public servant and assault on a peace officer. Officers responded to a report of a naked, belligerent man, covered in blood. Defendant proceeded to spit on and punch one of the officers, which was recorded on both officers' body cams. The officers testified at trial that they believed defendant was on PCP, which defendant claims had been "laced" into a joint he had smoked, without his knowing. Even if defendant had properly requested a jury instruction on involuntary intoxication, preserving his appellate complaint, the trial court still correctly denied the instruction as it was not raised by the evidence. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wright , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 09-22-00226-CR, Categories: assault, Harassment, jury Instructions
J. McFadden finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a new trial on her convictions for criminal attempt to commit murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and firearm offenses. Defendant failed to show that she was prejudiced by her trial counsel's failure to move to recuse the trial judge. However, the trial court incorrectly limited its jury instruction on the lesser-included offense of reckless conduct to only one of the three counts of aggravated assault. At least some evidence warranted the instruction as to the count for family violence aggravated assault. Affirmed in part.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: McFadden, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: A23A1119, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, assault, jury Instructions
J. Powell finds the trial court properly instructed the jury on defendant's flight from the scene of the crime during his assault of a peace officer and tampering case. Although he claimed his decision to run after shooting the police officer had to do with his weapons disability - not the crimes with which he was charged - it was up to the jury to determine whether his flight was evidence of his consciousness of guilt. Meanwhile, the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a new trial based on comments made by the prosecution during closing arguments because the attorney's recitation of the standard for recklessness was correct and did not mislead the jury. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Powell, Filed On: August 14, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-2817, Categories: Firearms, assault, jury Instructions
Per curiam, the Nebraska Supreme Court finds the trial court improperly convicted defendant for charges arising from his resisting officers when they attempted to take him into protective custody after his girlfriend reported him as mentally ill and threatening self-harm with a knife. An officer was stabbed, and defendant was shot, then pleading not guilty by reason of insanity at trial. Throughout his life, defendant has received a series of diagnoses, including schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder, and there was plain error in the jury instruction which necessitated the defense prove that defendant's behavior was not caused by any substances he had taken. Reversed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: S-21-642, Categories: assault, Resisting Arrest, jury Instructions
J. Zahn finds that differences between description of assault in a charging document and those given in the jury instructions did not create a fatal variance. Also, defendant was not entitled to an instruction on the offense of discharge of a firearm at another because it is not a lesser-included offense of aggravated assault on a peace officer. Affirmed.
Court: Idaho Supreme Court, Judge: Zahn, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 48985, Categories: assault, jury Instructions