California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Henkel, G057389 (Cal. App. 2020):
defendant is guilty of a single discrete crime. In the first situation, but not the second, it should give the unanimity instruction.'" (People v. Covarrubias (2016) 1 Cal.5th 838, 877-878.)
"A unanimity instruction is required if there is evidence that more than one crime occurred, each of which could provide the basis for conviction under a single count." (People v. Grimes (2016) 1 Cal.5th 698, 727.)
"Where, however, the evidence suggests that a defendant committed only one discrete criminal actionbut may have done so in one of several different waysno unanimity instruction is required. [Citations.] Unanimity is not required in this situation even if the jurors might conclude that the defendant is guilty based on different facts, or on different findings about the acts the defendant committed or his mental state. [Citations.] That is because, in this situation, the jury's guilty verdict will still reflect unanimous agreement that the defendant committed a single crime." (People v. Quiroz (2013) 215 Cal.App.4th 65, 73-74.)
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