Is a jury's failure to give a unanimity instruction in a criminal case a harmless error?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Bitson, B275154, B280417 (Cal. App. 2018):

implies that it did not believe the only defense offered,' failure to give a unanimity instruction is harmless error. [Citation.] But if the defendant offered separate defenses to each criminal act, reversal is required. [Citations.] The error is also harmless '[w]here the record indicates the jury resolved the basic credibility dispute against the defendant and therefore would have convicted him of any of the various offenses shown by the evidence . . . .' " (People v. Hernandez (2013) 217 Cal.App.4th 559, 577.)

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