Is a trial court's error in instructing a jury to consider all the elements of a criminal offence reversible per se?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Castaneda, B267831 (Cal. App. 2017):
Defendant cites People v. Cummings (1993) 4 Cal.4th 1233, 1312-1315, for the proposition the trial court's error was reversible per se. We disagree. The instructional error did not entirely preclude the jury's consideration of substantially all of the elements of the offense as was the case in Cummings. Here,
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