How can a court amend or amend the jury instructions in a criminal trial?

The law of this circuit clearly establishes that a court can cure or render harmless ambiguities and errors in its initial instructions by reinstructing the jury. See United States v. Lee, 864 F.2d 531, 535 (9th Cir.1988). Nonetheless, when the original instruction betrays prejudgment on the part of the court in a criminal trial, the harm inflicted can rarely be undone. Having heard the court's initial instructions, a reasonable jury could fairly have discounted the sincerity of the revised version. They may very well have concluded that the new instruction was a last-minute concession to the defense in what was to the court's mind quite clearly an already hopeless case.