17 results for 'cat:"Child Victims" AND cat:"Jury Instructions"'.
J. Ellington finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and cruelty to children. The trial court did not commit any error by allowing the state to repeatedly introduce evidence of the victim's previous head injuries without instructing the jury that the parties had agreed that defendant did not cause those injuries. The trial court correctly instructed the jury on prior difficulties between defendant and the 23-month-old victim. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Ellington, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: S24A0139, Categories: Murder, child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Matheson finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of attempted enticement of a minor. Defendant claims there was not enough evidence to convict him and that the lower court improperly gave jury instructions related to "grooming." Even if the grooming instruction was removed, the jury still had enough evidence from which to find that defendant was attempting to entice a minor through graphic conversations and making travel arrangements to meet them. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Matheson, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 22-5088, Categories: child Victims, 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
J. Vigil finds the trial court's use of the term "and/or" in its jury instructions at defendants' trial on reckless child abuse charges improperly confused or misled the jury and requires reversal of those convictions because it was used in the essential elements instruction and allowed the jury to convict defendants on a legally inadequate basis. Meanwhile, although the state stipulated to defendants' claim they did not intend to leave the victims inside a hot car when they returned to their daycare facility, there is still sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude defendants acted with "reckless disregard," and so a new trial will not violate defendants' double jeopardy rights. Reversed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Vigil, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: S-1-SC-38818, Categories: Double Jeopardy, child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Barrett finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for sexual assault. The victim testified to experiencing multiple sexual assaults by defendant, her mother's boyfriend, occurring over a period of years between the ages of 3 and 14. Notably, though she had not seen defendant's penis, she knew what it was when he forced it into her mouth in a dark room. Defendant was apprised of the charges, and the jury was correctly not instructed on limiting certain conduct to rape and other conduct to sexual assault. Witness credibility is an issue for the jury, and the victim's testimony is sufficient. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Barrett , Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: CR 23-147, Categories: Sex Offender, child Victims, jury Instructions
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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. 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. Aoyagi finds trial court properly declined to declare a mistrial after a witness vouched for the complainant that contributed to defendant’s conviction for two counts of first-degree sodomy. “The court took appropriate corrective action to address the situation, including striking the testimony, giving a detailed curative instruction, and giving a final instruction that reiterated the jury’s singular responsibility for making credibility determinations.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Aoyagi, Filed On: December 28, 2023, Case #: A176792, Categories: Sex Offender, child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Navarro finds the trial court was not required to include a jury instruction regarding defendant's culpable mental state in relation to the charge of sexual abuse by a person in a position of trust. A knowing mental state is not required for the position of trust element of the crime. The term "knowingly" appears in an entirely separate clause from the "position of trust" language in the criminal statute, which is intended to protect the child victims, regardless of whether the perpetrator subjectively believes they are in a position of trust. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Navarro, Filed On: November 2, 2023, Case #: 2023COA102, Categories: Sex Offender, child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Witt finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of abuse of a child and sentenced him to five years in prison. The jury instructions did not impermissibly allow the jury to convict defendant based on non-unanimous findings. Rather, they properly required the jury to find that the father inflicted the injuries on his child due to her issues potty-training. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Witt, Filed On: October 10, 2023, Case #: WD85526, Categories: child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Murphy finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for three counts of sexual indecency with a child. Defendant's minor cousins have disclosed that he made sexual comments toward them, soliciting intercourse. One of them, out of fear that he would become physical, began secretly recording him. All testimony and evidence were properly admitted. The court told the jury to disregard the beginning of a vague question by the state that did not indicate a crime for which defendant was previously investigated. Any problem was cured by the instruction. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Murphy , Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: CR-22-402, Categories: Sex Offender, child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Markle finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of aggravated child molestation and child molestation. The trial court's jury instructions sufficiently covered a charge requested by defendant on witness credibility related to the victim's delayed outcry. The trial court did not commit any error by charging the jury that time is not an essential element of the offenses. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Markle, Filed On: September 5, 2023, Case #: A23A0971, Categories: Sex Offender, child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Musseman finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant for multiple counts of child sexual abuse. The record shows that each child was under the domination of defendant when he committed the acts. The state chose to charge him with only one count of abuse for each child, and the jury was properly instructed, without objection, according to the uniform jury instruction based upon the child sexual abuse statute. Affirmed.
Court: Oklahoma Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Musseman, Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: F-22021-431, Categories: Sex Offender, child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Suttell affirms the trial court’s denial of a restaurateur’s request for a new trial after a jury convicted him of sexual assault with a knife against a waitress employed at his restaurant. The defendant argued that the trial justice committed an error of law when he permitted state prosecutors to introduce evidence that the waitress was molested as a child to explain the woman’s delay in reporting her boss’s attacks to the police. The defendant’s contention that her testimony about her childhood was irrelevant because it failed to connect the earlier incident to the later alleged assault has no merit. Affirmed.
Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court, Judge: Suttell, Filed On: June 26, 2023, Case #: 2021-71, Categories: Sex Offender, child Victims, jury Instructions
J. Powell finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of sodomy, incent, and child molestation. Although multiple acts of abuse were introduced at trial, the nature of the evidence minimized any risk that the jury did not substantially agree to the same acts described in the jury instructions to support the verdicts. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Supreme Court, Judge: Powell, Filed On: June 13, 2023, Case #: SC99554, Categories: Sex Offender, child Victims, jury Instructions