The prosecutor's special jury instruction and comments on the evidence

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by: Ryan • February 25, 2014 • no comments

Jury instructions which comment on the evidence are prohibited. As I have previously indicated, I think most every jury instruction requested by the prosecution is a comment on the evidence. Usually, this is true because the state has found a case that shows what evidence is sufficient to survive MJOA, and it wants to submit essentially the holding as a foregone conclusion.

Here's a post I did that discusses the issue in the context of a robbery in the first degree. I think it's a post always worth keeping in your trial notebook to review whenever the state asks for a special instruction.

Anyway, I have reason to think state requested jury instructions will be the big issue in a COA opinion tomorrow, although I don't know exactly how the arguments were framed.