253 results for 'cat:"Jury Instructions"'.
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the trial court improperly convicted defendant of second-degree murder and weapons charges because eyewitness testimony was properly admitted, and defendant failed to preserve arguments to limit jury instructions. However, sentences should run concurrently since the charges arose from the same crimes. Reversed in part.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: June 9, 2023, Case #: KA 18-02110, Categories: Murder, Sentencing, 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
J. Hood finds that defendant was not entitled to provide the jury trying his attempted extreme indifference murder case with a definition of universal malice. "Universal malice" is not a technical term, as a reasonable person of common intelligence would know that, as it applies to a homicide, it means "a willingness to take life indiscriminately." Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Supreme Court, Judge: Hood, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: 21SC564, Categories: Murder, jury Instructions
J. Baggett finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of trafficking persons for sexual servitude, criminal attempt to commit child molestation and a firearm offense. The trial court correctly denied defendant's motion for a new trial and found that defendant's trial counsel was not deficient for failing to file a motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of a traffic stop. Officers had reasonable suspicion that defendant's vehicle was being driven by the person who had exchanged text messages with an undercover officer to pay for sex with an underage girl. Defendant failed to show that the trial court's jury instructions on the sex trafficking or child molestation offenses affected the trial outcome or confused the jury. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Dillard, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: A23A0263, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Johnson reverses and remands for a new trial the murder and attempted murder convictions of a 19-year-old defendant sentenced to 56 years in state prison. The trial court erred by refusing to provide certain jury instructions requested by defendant, including the specific intent required for attempted murder. The defendant claims the murder victim was a good friend of his from the school swim team and he did not know a codefendant was armed for a planned drug rip-off. The codefendant was acquitted of all charges.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Johnson, Filed On: June 2, 2023, Case #: 210848, Categories: Murder, Double Jeopardy, jury Instructions
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J. McCullough finds the lower court properly convicted defendant or robbery. "The Due Process Clause does not require a court to pre-screen an eyewitness identification made for the first time in court," and "the jury was adequately instructed on the second or subsequent offense provisions." Affirmed.
Court: Virginia Supreme Court, Judge: McCullough, Filed On: June 1, 2023, Case #: 220378 , Categories: Robbery, Witnesses, jury Instructions
J. Schutz finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's claims that two jurors were stricken from his felony menacing trial due to race. Also, he was not entitled to have jurors questioned about their race and ethnicity or given an implicit bias instruction. Evidence that a victim of the menacing was a drug dealer was properly excluded as improper character evidence. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Schutz, Filed On: June 1, 2023, Case #: 20CA2145, Categories: Firearms, jury Instructions
J. Lipinsky finds that the trial court should have allowed the jury to hear defendant's instruction on the felony murder affirmative defense. He was not required to admit to the predicate robbery felony in order to assert the defense, which was supported by some credible evidence that he did not know a gun was present, did not intend to engage in a robbery and that he tried to disengage from the crime when he learned a gun was present. Unlike the affirmative defenses of entrapment or self-defense, the felony murder affirmative defense does not justify or excuse the predicate offense. Reversed in part.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lipinsky, Filed On: June 1, 2023, Case #: 21CA0976, Categories: Murder, Robbery, jury Instructions
J. Hassan finds that defendant was improperly convicted of bodily-injury assault of a family member after a jury charge error. "An error that permits the jury to convict a defendant for an uncharged offense that was not a lesser included offense of the charged offense egregiously harms the defendant." Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Hassan, Filed On: June 1, 2023, Case #: 14-22-00273-CR, Categories: Evidence, Assault, jury Instructions
J. LaGrua finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and correctly denied defendant's motion for a new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's conviction, including evidence that defendant fatally shot the victim in front of multiple eyewitnesses. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel's performance was deficient or that he was prejudiced by his counsel's failure to request a jury instruction on confession corroboration. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: LaGrua, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: S23A0166, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Murder, jury Instructions
J. Ellington finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder. Although the trial court's charge failed to correctly instruct the jury on the essential elements of felony murder and aggravated assault with intent to murder, defendant failed to show that the incorrect jury charge affected the trial outcome. There was compelling evidence in the record that defendant intended to kill the victim and that he participated in the crime. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Ellington, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: S23A0322, Categories: Murder, jury Instructions
J. Gladwin finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for aggravated assault on a family member, domestic battery and endangering the welfare of a minor. Though defendant says he was trying to keep his daughter from leaving the house in the middle of the night, she testified that he, while drunk, came into her room as she was sleeping and started an argument. He began throwing lamps, then choked her. She ran out of the house and he and his dog chased her down. He again choked her as she attempted to flee. Home security video confirmed these events. Defendant claims that an evidence rule was used contrary to jury instruction, but his argument is not preserved for appeal. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gladwin, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: CR-22-773, Categories: Assault, Domestic Violence, jury Instructions