Tag Archives: CC 3450


Jury Instructions Should not Permit Jurors to Reject Defense Evidence Without Considering It
September 14th, 2018

It is a fundamental tenet of the federal constitutional rights to fair trial by jury and due process (5th, 6th and 14th Amendments) that the jury consider exculpatory evidence upon which the defendant relies to leave the jury with a reasonable doubt as to any element of the charge.  (See e.g., Martin v. Ohio (87) […]


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Instruction on Irresistible Impulse Not Required as the Standard for Sanity of a Juvenile Offender
June 29th, 2018

In People v. Marsh (2018) 20 Cal.App.5th 694 the defense argued that due process and the prohibition against disproportionate punishment required the trial court to instruct on irresistible impulse as the standard for sanity of a juvenile. This claim was based on the same body of research on the development of brain function in adolescents […]


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