California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Adams, 186 Cal.App.3d 75, 230 Cal.Rptr. 588 (Cal. App. 1986):
The trial court properly instructed regarding the credibility of witnesses and the weighing of conflicting testimony, the other two instructions required by People v. Rincon-Pineda, supra, 14 Cal.3d at pages 884-885, 123 Cal.Rptr. 119, 538 P.2d 247. The jury was told [186 Cal.App.3d 82] it was the exclusive judge of credibility; it should consider witnesses' demeanor, capacity and opportunity to perceive, bias, consistent and inconsistent statements, etc. in assessing credibility; and reach its decision based not on the relative number of witnesses, but on the relative convincing force of the evidence. (See CALJIC Nos. 2.20 and 2.22.) The inclusion of these instructions supports our conclusion of harmless error.
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