What is the current state of the law on the doctrine of instructing a jury not to convict a defendant of a false denial of guilt?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Phomvilay, F076279 (Cal. App. 2020):

And defendant has not otherwise established prejudice. "[E]ven if we assume for purposes of argument that the instruction should not be given where the only allegedly false statement is a mere denial of guilt, any error in giving the instruction would be harmless under any standard." (People v. Williams (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 1157, 1166, fn. 8.) "The instruction would apply only if the jury found the denial to be false, and this would necessarily mean that the jury accepted the prosecution's evidence and rejected the defense case." (Ibid.) "Under such circumstances, the inference of guilt arising from a 'false' denial of guilt could add nothing to the jury's evaluation of the evidence and determination of guilt." (Ibid.)

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