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F 2.61 n1 Failure Of Defendant To Testify: Waiver Of Instruction For Strategic Purposes.
See FORECITE F 2.60 n1.
F 2.61 n2 Failure Of Defendant To Testify: Whether Omission Of Instruction Can Be Harmless Error.
(See FORECITE F 2.60 n2.)
F 2.61 n3 Improper To Refer To The Prosecution as “The People.”
Reference to the prosecution as “The People” may implicate the defendant’s state and federal constitutional rights to due process and fair trial by jury. (See FORECITE F 0.50d.) Any reference to “The People” should be changed to “The Prosecution.”
F 2.61a
Defendant May Rely On State Of Evidence
*Add the following to CJ 2.61:
It is not up to the defendant to prove that [he] [she] is not guilty.
Points and Authorities
Fed. Jud. Ctr., Pattern Crim. Jury Instructions (1988), Instr. # 22, p. 30; federal constitutional right to due process (14th Amendment).
RESEARCH NOTES
See FORECITE BIBLIO 2.60.