Is there a reasonable possibility the jury construed the prosecutor's comments to permit conviction despite reasonable doubts?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Cortez, B233833 (Cal. App. 2013):

I am not persuaded there is a reasonable possibility the jury construed the prosecutor's comments to permit conviction despite reasonable doubts. The court properly instructed the jury on the correct standard of proof. The jury was instructed that "[p]roof beyond a reasonable doubt is proof that leaves you with an abiding conviction that the charge is true. The evidence need not eliminate all possible doubt because everything in life is open to some possible or imaginary doubt." The jury was also instructed that "[y]ou must follow the law as I explain it to you . . . . If you believe that the attorneys' comments on the law conflict with my instructions, you must follow my instructions." We presume the jury followed the court's instructions absent evidence to the contrary. (People v. Nguyen (1995) 40 Cal.App.4th 28, 37.)

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