Is a defendant entitled to a mistrial when the court first discovered the omission of a reasonable doubt instruction from the initial charge?

MultiRegion, United States of America

The following excerpt is from U.S. v. Desimone, 119 F.3d 217 (2nd Cir. 1997):

Fernandez urges he was entitled to a mistrial when the court first discovered the omission of the reasonable doubt instruction from the initial charge. He declares that because he was not specifically offered a mistrial, his waiver of the "right" to a mistrial was not knowing and voluntary. For this proposition, he relies on United States v. Lane, 624 F.2d 1336 (5th Cir.1980), where a trial court that had inadvertently omitted several pages of its jury charge, including a definition of reasonable doubt, offered the defendant his choice of three curative alternatives:

Page 228

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