California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Driskill, G039847 (Cal. App. 4/10/2009), G039847., G040913. (Cal. App. 2009):
"It is an elementary principle of law that before a jury can be instructed that it may draw a particular inference, evidence must appear in the record which, if believed by the jury, will support the suggested inference. [Citation.] Whether or not any given set of facts may constitute suppression or attempted suppression of evidence from which a trier of fact can infer a consciousness of guilt on the part of a defendant is a question of law. Thus in order for a jury to be instructed that it can infer a consciousness of guilt from suppression of adverse evidence by a defendant, there must be some evidence in the record which, if believed by the jury, will sufficiently support the suggested inference. Furthermore, the determination of whether there is such evidence in the record is a matter which must be resolved by the trial court before such an instruction can be given to a jury." (People v. Hannon (1977) 19 Cal.3d 588, 597-598.)
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