253 results for 'cat:"Jury" AND cat:"Jury Instructions"'.
J. Lipinsky finds the trial court erred in convicting defendant for vehicular eluding resulting in death, but upholds his convictions for assault, vehicular homicide and failure to fulfill duties after involvement in an accident involving death. There was an instructional error in the enhancer instruction to the jury on his vehicular eluding resulting in death conviction; the court failed to draw the distinction between the fatal crash while eluding police officers, and causing the crash after the eluding ended. Affirmed in part. Reversed in part.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lipinsky, Filed On: May 16, 2024, Case #: 2024COA52, Categories: Vehicular Homicide, jury Instructions
J. Barnes finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a new trial on his convictions for armed robbery and other offenses arising from the theft of a pair of Yeezy limited edition sneakers. The trial court correctly admitted into evidence stipulations related to the search of defendant's home, security video obtained from the grocery store where the shooting occurred and audio and video recordings of police interviews with the victims. Defendant's counsel agreed to the written list of stipulations. The trial court correctly instructed the jury on the law of factual stipulations and on possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Barnes, Filed On: May 15, 2024, Case #: A24A0523, Categories: Robbery, jury Instructions
J. Pinson finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and a firearm offense. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions for shooting the victim 16 times, including evidence that defendant told his coworkers he hated the victim and fantasized about killing him. The trial court correctly refused to give defendant's requested jury instruction on voluntary manslaughter. The victim's actions in yelling, cursing and threatening to get a gun were not enough to provoke a sudden, irresistible passion in a reasonable person to warrant the injury instruction. Defendant's trial counsel was not deficient for failing to object to testimony from defendant's coworkers. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Pinson, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: S24A0405, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Murder, jury Instructions
J. Standridge finds a lower court improperly denied a defendant's motion to testify in a criminal trial on charges of felony stalking, violation of stalking orders, and criminal trespass. The state argued that it was entitled to strike the defendant's testimony before the jury, and then directed it to consider evidence, witness statements, and exhibits only. However, the defendant presented sufficient evidence in court that he is entitled to a new trial based on the court's denial to allow him to testify on his own behalf in the proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Kansas Supreme Court, Judge: Standridge, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 124303, Categories: Fair Trial, Trespass, jury Instructions
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Per curiam, the Vermont Supreme Court finds the trial court properly convicted the defendant of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after a jury trial. The defendant appeals the conviction alleging the state failed to give proper jury instruction to prove beyond a reasonable doubt he acted with the requisite intent. The evidence was sufficient to show the jury that the defendant did commit the crime on purpose and knowingly cause injury. Therefore, there was no error found in the jury instructions. Affirmed.
Court: Vermont Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 23-AP-339, Categories: Assault, Weapons, jury Instructions
J. Colvin finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and aggravated assault. Defendant failed to show that the trial outcome was probably impacted by the inclusion of an option on the verdict form for voluntary manslaughter only after the felony murder count instead of after both murder counts. The trial court correctly instructed the jury with respect to the verdict form after the jury sent a note during deliberations. Although the trial court violated defendant's right to be present and right to counsel during the proceedings by responding to the jury note outside the presence of the parties, the error was harmless. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Colvin, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: S24A0094, Categories: Murder, jury Instructions
J. Beam finds the trial court properly included a jury instruction that stated the "initial aggressor" in a fight could not claim self-defense. Although it was an incomplete statement of Mississippi self-defense law, the victim in this case showed no intention of harming defendant, who had no justification to hit him with a metal baseball bat. Affirmed.
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court, Judge: Beam, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 2023-KA-226, Categories: Assault, Self Defense, jury Instructions
J. Smith finds that while defendant's indictment did not include the word "killed" or "murdered," the language was sufficient to put him on notice that he was being charged for the death of the victim, which allowed him to put forth an adequate defense and allowed the jury to convict him of the lesser-included offense of manslaughter. However, because the jury instructions for defendant's aggravated assault charges included conflicting intent elements of "knowingly" and "recklessly," his due process rights were violated and those convictions must be vacated. Affirmed in part.
Court: Mississippi Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 2022-KA-705, Categories: Murder, Assault, jury Instructions
J. Powers finds the trial court plainly erred by failing to instruct the jury of the requisite culpable mental state concerning the value of the property stolen. However, based on other evidence, it had “little likelihood of affecting the verdict.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Powers, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A177109, Categories: Theft, jury Instructions
J. Emfinger finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a jury instruction on self-defense or the accident doctrine because her testimony clearly established she knowingly struck the victim with her car as she drove in reverse. Defendant initially claimed she was trying to get away from the victim, but admitted at trial she saw her when she "revved" the engine and was going between 20 and 40 miles per hour when the impact occurred; therefore, defendant's statement she "acted in self-defense" was insufficient to warrant a jury instruction. Affirmed.
Court: Mississippi Court Of Appeals, Judge: Emfinger, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 2023-KA-52, Categories: Murder, Self Defense, jury Instructions
J. Davis finds the district court properly convicted the doctor for unlawful distribution of controlled substances based on sufficient evidence. After the health management company developed concerns about the doctor's inability to maintain patient and medication records, warning him several times, he was terminated and opened a private practice. The DEA launched an investigation into his prescriptions after receiving a tip from a confidential informant, and the ensuing sting operation led to the doctor's arrest. That the prescriptions lacked a legitimate medical purpose is established in that they were issued outside the usual course of professional practice. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Davis , Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 23-30191, Categories: Drug Offender, Fraud, 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. Snauffer finds that the instructions given to the jury in defendant's sexual abuse case did not create a preferential credibility standard for the complaining witness. One instruction told the jury to be careful when fact-finding on the basis on one witness's testimony and the other told the jury that a conviction may legally be based on one witness's testimony. However, the trial court erred in convicting him for distinct acts of sexual abuse that occurred during the period for which he was also convicted of continuous sexual abuse. Vacated in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Snauffer, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: F085895, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Hellman finds the trial court properly denied defendant’s request for the less-satisfactory evidence jury instruction. Inconsistency in witness testimony “does not establish that a video existed or that it was reasonably available to the state.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Hellman, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: A177478, Categories: Evidence, jury Instructions
J. Agee finds the lower court improperly rejected the inmate's request for a new trial on perjury charges. The inmate argued he deserved a new trial because his counsel was ineffective for failing to appeal erroneous jury instructions. The state agrees that counsel was ineffective on this issue and the inmate is entitled to a new trial. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-6272, Categories: Habeas, Ineffective Assistance, 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. 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. Peterson finds that the trial court improperly convicted defendant of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault for hitting the victim with his car after the two argued over whether the victim threw a golf ball at the vehicle. The trial court incorrectly denied defendant's request to instruct the jury on the defense of accident. There was at least some evidence to support the theory that there was no criminal scheme, including evidence that defendant did not intend to hit the victim and rendered immediate aid. The refusal to give the jury instruction could have contributed to the verdict. Defendant may be retried because the evidence was legally sufficient to support his convictions. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: S24A0036, Categories: Murder, jury Instructions
J. Rothschild finds that the trial court improperly gave a deadlocked jury additional guidance on implied malice, resulting in a unanimous decision to convict defendant for second degree murder. Implied malice requires a conscious disregard from human life, not merely a disregard for whether someone is hurt or killed. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Rothschild, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: B328209, Categories: Murder, jury Instructions
J. Wollenberg finds the superior court properly determined that Alaska courts are not constitutionally required to instruct grand juries that they have discretion to decline to enforce the law in a particular case. No case law supports the notion that “the constitution requires the superior court to affirmatively instruct the grand jurors that they have this power—particularly where the grand jury instructions do not expressly foreclose the exercise of this kind of discretion.” Affirmed.
Court: Alaska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wollenberg, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: A-11759, Categories: jury Instructions
J. Ortego finds that defendant was properly convicted for carjacking and adjudicated as a fourth habitual offender, resulting in a life sentence of hard labor without parole. There was plenty of evidence that defendant attacked the carjacking victim unprovoked, thus there was "violence" and all of the elements of the crime were established beyond a reasonable doubt. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Ortego, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: KA-23-736, Categories: Robbery, Vehicle, 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. 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