Is there any inconsistency in a jury's finding that oral copulation was not a crime?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Panah, 107 P.3d 790, 25 Cal.Rptr.3d 672, 35 Cal.4th 395 (Cal. 2005):
Regarding defendant's claim of inconsistent verdicts, first, as the trial court noted, the verdicts are not necessarily inconsistent. The jury could have found that, while an act of oral copulation occurred, the murder was not committed during the commission of that act ( 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(F)), and could have convicted
[107 P.3d 751]
him of the substantive oral copulation count while finding the oral copulation special circumstances not to be true. In any event, any inconsistency in the verdicts does not require reversal of the oral copulation conviction. "It is ... settled that an inherently inconsistent verdict is allowed to stand; if an acquittal of one count is factually irreconcilable with a conviction on another, or if a not true finding of an enhancement allegation is inconsistent with a conviction of a substantive offense, effect is given to both." (People v. Santamaria (1994) 8 Cal.4th 903, 911, 35 Cal.Rptr.2d 624, 884 P.2d 81.)[107 P.3d 751]
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