If a jury finds that a witness has been convicted of a prior criminal offence, can the jury disregard the prior conviction?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. San Martin, B264129 (Cal. App. 2016):
In order to guard against the jury's improper use of the evidence of the prior conviction, the trial court instructed the jury that if it found a witness had been convicted of a felony, it:
We must presume that the jury followed the trial court's instructions. (People v. Fuiava (2012) 53 Cal.4th 622, 669.)
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