California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Santa Maria, 207 Cal.App.2d 306, 24 Cal.Rptr. 492 (Cal. App. 1962):
Appellant argues that it was error to allow the reading of the minute order to the jury, relying on Penal Code sections 1025 and 1093. The general rule is that when a defendant is charged in an accusatory pleading with having suffered a prior conviction and he is asked whether he has suffered such prior conviction and he answers that he has, 'the charge of the previous conviction must not be read to the jury, nor alluded to on the trial.' (Penal Code, 1025, 1093.) However, in a prosecution for the unlawful possession of narcotics, the People have the burden of showing that the appellant had knowledge of the narcotic character of the contraband in his possession. (People v. Winston, 46 Cal.2d 151,
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