» Entries tagged with "jury instruction"
"Cloaked in the Shroud of Innocence"
For the most part, Arizona superior court judges instruct juries from the same basic set of instructions. Cases will have additional, different instructions depending on things like the relevant statutes, the facts of the case, and whether there are any lesser included offenses or special defenses involved, but most instructions are the same from one trial to another. There may be little variations, as many seasoned judges do them from memory or get bored reading verbatim, but any lawyer who tries a lot of cases is going to notice right away if a judge isn’t following the typical script. In every trial I’ve done, the judge has given the jury some variation of Arizona’s standard “Presumption of Innocence” jury instruction. Here it is: The law does not require a … Read entire article »
Lesser Included Offenses
In many cases that go to trial, it is important to request that the judge give the jury a lesser included offense instruction. That means that you ask the judge to tell the jury that the crime with which the defendant has been charged includes a lesser crime and that, if they feel the facts warrant it, they can find the defendant guilty of the lesser crime instead of the charged crime. For instance, in Arizona, theft is a lesser included offense of robbery, so if you are accused of robbery, the judge can tell the jury that they can find you guilty of theft instead. Some jurors don’t like the fact they only have two options (guilty or not guilty), so a lesser included offense instruction gives them … Read entire article »
Filed under: Arizona Cases
Recent Comments