California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Louis, 142 Cal.Rptr. 182, 75 Cal.App.3d 620 (Cal. App. 1977):
Appellant cites no authority holding that reversible error is committed if the court fails to instruct on reasonable doubt as it applies specifically to use of a firearm. He cites only cases in which the court wholly failed to instruct the jurors that the defendant was entitled to acquittal unless each element of the crimes charged was proved to the jurors' satisfaction beyond a reasonable doubt. (See People v. Vann, 12 Cal.3d 220, 227, 115 Cal.Rptr. 352, 524 P.2d 824.) In this case, however, the omission in the use of a firearm instructions was nonprejudicial since the court otherwise instructed on reasonable doubt.
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