253 results for 'cat:"Jury Instructions"'.
J. Tenney finds defendant’s counsel failed to ask for jury instructions that would define the serious bodily injury on his possession of a dangerous weapon counts. Defendant was not prejudiced for the convictions based on a chain with padlock and an axe, but he was prejudiced to the conviction based on a turkey hook. The counsel properly chose not to move for direct verdict on the paraphernalia count, because there is enough evidence to support that claim. Therefore, there only needs to be a new conviction regarding the weapon counts. Reversed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tenney, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 20220143-CA, Categories: Drug Offender, Weapons, jury Instructions
J. Heavican finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for first-degree sexual assault and sentenced to 35 to 40 years imprisonment. The victim, after a night of partying and drinking in multiple locations, accepted a ride from defendant. Defendant parked his vehicle in a parking lot before beginning his assault on the protesting victim, who then reported the assault to a police officer who had pulled up behind defendant's vehicle. There was no error in the court’s jury instruction on consent or its decision not to allow continued impeachment of the victim's prior statements to police. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Heavican , Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: S-23-147, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Kemp finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for two counts of first-degree murder. Officers responded to a call by a victim's son when he discovered his mother and defendant's father dead from gunshot wounds. The father's body appeared to officers to be posed with a gun in its hand, though it was later confirmed he had been shot six times by that very gun. Furthermore, the trial court properly rejected proffered instructions on justification and kidnapping because there was no evidence defendant reasonably believed the victims were about to commit a felony with force or violence, or that his life was in imminent danger. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Kemp , Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: CR-23-486, Categories: Evidence, Murder, jury Instructions
J. Sutton finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of rape, sodomy, and kidnapping. The state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant locked the victim in the trunk of her car and drover her to a secluded spot so he could force her to perform oral sex at gunpoint. Further, the court did not err in declining to answer the jury's question about whether defendant's sentences would run consecutively or concurrently. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Sutton, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: WD85844, Categories: Sex Offender, Kidnapping, jury Instructions
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J. Singas finds that defendant was properly convicted of murder, attempted murder, and assault stemming from an altercation outside a bar that resulted in a stabbing death and serious injury from a neck slashing. The jury was instructed on justification in light of the self-defense claims, but the court did not abuse its discretion by failing to revisit that information when deliberating jurors asked to be recharged on the elements of the alleged crimes. Affirmed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Singas, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 03, Categories: Self Defense, jury Instructions
J. Hardin-Tammons finds that the lower court properly found defendant guilty of murder and armed criminal action. The state presented sufficient evidence to prove he intended to shoot the victim given that her death was caused by a close-range shot to the head. Further, the court did not plainly err by not instructing the jury on the lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hardin-Tammons, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: ED111322, Categories: Intent, Murder, jury Instructions
J. Diaz finds the lower court properly convicted the defendant of Hobbs robbery. The defendant and a group of co-conspirators attempted to rob the owners of a local restaurant as they returned home from work, leading to a shootout that left one of the owners dead. The defendant claims the jury was unfair because the court struck two Black jurors, the same race as a defendant, and no white defendants. Although both the Black defendants and white defendant did not raise their hands as they should have when asked verbatim whether they had family members who had ever been plaintiffs or defendants in a court case, the white juror had told the court before she had a family member that fit the description the verbatim questioning. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Diaz, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 21-4458, Categories: Jury, Robbery, jury Instructions
J. Herndon finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for first-degree murder with a deadly weapon. Surveillance video shows defendant stabbed the victim in the neck on a Las Vegas street. Defendant fails to support his argument the victim threatened him with a gun, and an emotional outburst by the victim's family during a viewing of the video is no basis for mistrial or curative instruction. Affirmed.
Court: Nevada Supreme Court, Judge: Herndon , Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 86208, Categories: Evidence, Murder, 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. Rovner finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of attempting to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity. When considered as a whole, the jury instructions accurately summarized the law. Further, even if there were an error, the evidence against defendant was so overwhelming that it did not prejudice his case. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 23-1542, Categories: Sex Offender, Child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Palafox finds a lower court did not err when it convicted defendant of sexual assault of a child. Defendant appealed based on a jury instruction, which included a “factually impossible date” on which the victim would have no longer been a minor. However, since the jury established that sexual contact did in fact happen while the victim was a minor, this instruction creates “no egregious harm.” Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Palafox, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 08-23-00197-CR, Categories: Sex Offender, Child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Shorr finds the trial court properly provided a “Miles instruction” to the jury that convicted defendant of DUII. The term “intoxicants” in the Miles instruction refers to “either or both intoxicating liquor and controlled substances.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Shorr, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: A176781, Categories: Dui, 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. Welbaum finds that although no one, including the victim, witnessed defendant remove the victim's breast from her jacket and grope her while she slept, his conviction for gross sexual imposition was supported by sufficient, circumstantial evidence, including the victim's testimony she woke up several times after feeling someone grope her and eventually woke up to defendant having vaginal intercourse with her. Meanwhile, the trial court was not required to give a curative instruction to the jury following an emotional outburst by the victim after defendant's mother made faces and reacted inappropriately to her testimony at trial. The statements made by the victim were consistent with her testimony and did not affect the outcome of the trial. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welbaum, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-481, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Tenney finds that the trial court erred in giving a jury instruction on the classifications of defendant's drug and paraphernalia possession charges.
He was convicted of the paraphernalia count but not the possession count, and he failed to show that he would have received a more favorable outcome without the improper instructions. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tenney, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 20210552-CA, Categories: Drug Offender, jury Instructions
J. Sheehan finds the trial court erroneously instructed the jury during defendant's trial on rape and gross sexual imposition charges that the element of force could be proven by evidence the victim's "will was overcome by fear or duress alone." Although defendant was the victim's stepfather, she was 18 at the time of the sexual assault and was not, by definition, a child. The victim admitted during her testimony that defendant did not force her to do anything when he assaulted her in the shower, and although there is other evidence in the record that could satisfy the heightened force standard - including that the victim urinated on herself when defendant initially touched her - the jury instruction deprived defendant of a fair trial and his convictions must be vacated. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Sheehan, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-471, Categories: Fair Trial, Sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Benton finds a lower court properly sentenced a defendant to 270 months in prison and five years probation for possession with intent to sell 50 grams or more of meth. The defendant argued that the lower court erred in allowing a supplemental instruction for jury questions. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that the instruction did not prejudiced the defendant, who claimed it was "phrased negatively." Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Benton, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 23-2149, Categories: Drug Offender, Probation, jury Instructions
J. Egan finds the trial court plainly erred by instructing the jury on the statutory definition of inchoate “attempt” for informing the elements of fleeing or attempting to elude a police office. The law requires that a person “knowingly attempt to escape the notice or perception of a police officer.” Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Egan, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: A178387, Categories: jury Instructions
J. Ross partially reverses the imprisoned man's conviction for escape from custody, and dismisses an appeal of drug- and ammunition-possession charges. The imprisoned man has made no arguments supporting his notice of appeal for the drug and ammunition charges, but the district court abused its discretion in failing to instruct jurors that the state was required to prove that the prisoner's failure to return to custody following a furlough for his mother's funeral was voluntary and intentional. Reversed in part.
Court: Minnesota Court Of Appeals, Judge: Ross, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: A23-0128, Categories: Escape, jury Instructions
J. Gregory finds the lower court improperly convicted the doctor on 861 counts of the unauthorized prescription of opioids. The government misstated the law in the jury instructions by failing to state that the doctor could only be convicted if he knew that his conduct in prescribing opioids to substance abusers was unauthorized. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Gregory, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 19-4761, Categories: Drug Offender, jury Instructions
J. Hiland finds the court of appeals improperly reversed the trial court's defendant's convictions for DWI and refusal to submit to testing after his arrest for being passed out drunk in his vehicle on the side of the road. The arresting officer testified he had difficulty awakening defendant, who eventually referred to the officer as "mom." The officer smelled alcohol and saw other signs of defendant's intoxication. No abuse of discretion is found in the court's denying a mistrial where defense opened the door to allegedly prejudicial statements about defendant's blood alcohol level or where the possible prejudice could have been cured by an admonition to the jury. Vacated.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Hiland, Filed On: February 1, 2024, Case #: CR-22-452, Categories: Evidence, Dui, jury Instructions
J. Moore reverses the defendant's convictions for first-degree premeditated murder, attempted first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree felony murder while committing a kidnapping and kidnapping to commit great bodily harm or terrorize, but remands her case for further proceedings on the kidnapping and felony murder charges. The state has provided evidence sufficient to support a reasonable inference that the defendant knew that a fake house showing she set up with the murder victim, a realtor, on behalf of her romantic partner and his friends was a setup for a kidnapping and murder plot, but the circumstances proved also support a reasonable inference that she believed the end goal of her partner's plan was a less serious crime than premeditated murder. The circumstantial evidence used to support her convictions, therefore, was insufficient to sustain her convictions for first-degree premeditated murder and attempted first-degree premeditated murder under an aiding-and-abetting theory of liability. Additionally, the district court issued impermissible hybrid jury instructions, combining accomplice liability and the underlying elements into a single instruction which misstated the law by allowing the jury to convict the defendant of kidnapping without reaching the issue of liability under an aiding-and-abetting theory. These erroneous instructions were also not harmless. The defendant's other arguments regarding jury instructions and sufficiency of evidence fail. Reversed.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Moore, Filed On: January 31, 2024, Case #: A22-0163, Categories: Murder, Kidnapping, jury Instructions
J. Dannehy finds the trial court was not required to include the crimes defendant intended to commit when he broke into his brother's residence in its jury instruction on defendant's first-degree burglary charge. Although such a list is preferred, the instructions in this case accurately recited the elements of the burglary charge and made it clear the jury was required to find defendant intended to commit other crimes upon entry into the residence. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Dannehy, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: SC20721, Categories: Burglary, jury Instructions
J. Castillo finds that the trial court properly instructed the jury not to draw an adverse reference from the refusal of the alleged victim in defendant's domestic violence trial to testify, as she had properly invoked her Fifth Amendment privilege through counsel. Also, substantial evidence supported the decision not to excuse a juror for bias. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Castillo, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: D080776, Categories: Domestic Violence, jury Instructions
J. Froelicher finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of voyeurism. There was enough evidence to find that he had violated the relevant voyeurism statute, he was not prejudiced by any alleged improper instructions to the jury, and the lower court was within their rights to deny his request to suppress evidence of his voyeurism on a series of computer memory cards. Affirmed.
Court: Wyoming Supreme Court, Judge: Froelicher, Filed On: January 24, 2024, Case #: S-23-0020, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Evidence, jury Instructions
J. Lagoa finds that the district court properly convicted defendant of Hobbs Act robbery and correctly sentenced him to 180 months in prison. The district court correctly rejected defendant's proposed jury instruction on evaluating eyewitness identifications. The pattern instruction substantially covered defendant's proposed instruction. Statements made by two detectives and an FBI agent were not prejudicial to defendant. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions, including surveillance video showing that the robber pointed a gun at a store employee and wore boots which were found in defendant's car. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Lagoa, Filed On: January 24, 2024, Case #: 22-10408, Categories: Robbery, jury Instructions
J. Kamins finds the trial court plainly erred in failing to instruct on the mental state for the element of sexual contact but declines to correct the error. The guilty verdicts, which indicate that the jury believed the touching had occurred make it "unlikely that the jury did not also find that defendant knowingly subjected the victim to sexual contact.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Kamins, Filed On: January 24, 2024, Case #: A178211, Categories: Sex Offender, Child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's habeas petition stemming from the state court's decision to answer a jury question ex parte during defendant's criminal trial on robbery charges. The communication did not have a substantial an injurious effect on the jury's verdict. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 22-3082, Categories: Habeas, Robbery, jury Instructions