Can a jury consider whether a defendant had a motive to commit a crime?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Harvey, F052742 (Cal. App. 10/3/2008), F052742 (Cal. App. 2008):
Although the jury was instructed that it could consider whether defendant had a motive, the jury was also told that the People are not required to prove that defendant had a motive to commit any of the charged crimes. "Motive describes the reason a person chooses to commit a crime." (People v. Hillhouse (2002) 27 Cal.4th 469, 504.)
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