Is Johnsen wrong to instruct the jury on the reasonable doubt standard in the context of third party culpability?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Johnsen, 10 Cal.5th 1116, 274 Cal.Rptr.3d 599, 480 P.3d 2 (Cal. 2021):

Johnsen has also failed to establish instructional error with respect to special instruction No. 28. There is no precedent that compels the trial court to instruct the jury specifically on the reasonable doubt standard in the context of third party culpability when the jury has already received a general instruction on the reasonable doubt standard. (See People v. Gutierrez (2009) 45 Cal.4th 789, 825, 89 Cal.Rptr.3d 225, 200 P.3d 847 ["because the jury could have acquitted defendant had it believed that a third party was responsible for [the victim's] death, no third party culpability instruction was necessary"].)

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