Does the trial court have a duty to instruct the jury in argumentative instructions?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Vazquez, G055540 (Cal. App. 2019):
Argumentative instructions "'invite[s] the jury to draw inferences favorable to [one party over the other], and therefore properly belong[] . . . in the arguments of counsel to the jury,'" not in the instructions. (People v. Flores (2007) 157 Cal.App.4th 216, 220.) The trial court must not become an advocate in the guise of instructing the jury. (Quercia v. United States (1933) 289 U.S. 466, 470.) There was no such risk here.
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