What are some cases where the Attorney General failed to meet her burden of proving harmlessness beyond a reasonable doubt?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Jackson, B259877 (Cal. App. 2016):
On the whole, we cannot say that the evidence against either defendant was so strong, persuasive, or one-sided as to permit this court to conclude that there is no reasonable possibility that the errors might have contributed to the verdicts. (People v. Aranda (2012) 55 Cal.4th 342, 367.) We therefore conclude that the Attorney General failed to meet her burden of proving harmlessness beyond a reasonable doubt, and we reverse the convictions.
Given our disposition, we need not address any other issues raised on appeal, but we briefly note that if defendants are retried on the conspiracy charge, the trial court should not ask the jury to determine the degree of the murder they conspired to commit because every conspiracy to commit murder is necessarily conspiracy to commit premeditated and deliberated first degree murder. (People v. Cortez (1998) 18 Cal.4th 1223, 1237-1238.)
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The judgments are reversed.
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