Is there a reasonable likelihood that the jury understood the instruction that a jury would not convict appellant of a charge of sexual assault simply because they concluded beyond a reasonable doubt?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Vichroy, 76 Cal.App.4th 92, 90 Cal.Rptr.2d 105 (Cal. App. 1999):

There remains a question whether there is a reasonable likelihood the jury so understood the instruction when it is viewed in light of the instructions as a whole. (See People v. Cain (1995) 10 Cal.4th 1, 36.) The jury was instructed to so consider the instructions. (CALJIC No. 1.01.) They were instructed on the presumption of innocence and reasonable doubt (CALJIC No. 2.90), and on the sufficiency of circumstantial evidence, including the requirement that "before an inference essential to establish guilt may be found to have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, each fact or circumstance on which the inference necessarily rests must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt." (CALJIC No. 2.01.) These instructions did nothing to clarify that the jurors were not to convict appellant of the current charges simply because they concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that he had committed prior sexual offenses.

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