What is the test for a defendant challenging a jury's interpretation of a jury instruction?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Bryant, S049596 (Cal. 2014):

"It is fundamental that jurors are presumed to be intelligent and capable of understanding and applying the court's instructions." (People v. Gonzales (2011) 51 Cal.4th 894, 940.) " 'A defendant challenging an instruction as being subject to erroneous interpretation by the jury must demonstrate a reasonable likelihood that the

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jury understood the instruction in the way asserted by the defendant. [Citations.]' [Citation.] ' "[T]he correctness of jury instructions is to be determined from the entire charge of the court, not from a consideration of parts of an instruction or from a particular instruction." [Citations.]' [Citation.]" (People v. Solomon (2010) 49 Cal.4th 792, 822 (Solomon).)

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