California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Hughes, 116 Cal.Rptr.2d 401, 27 Cal.4th 287, 39 P.3d 432 (Cal. 2002):
22. In the oral instructions to the jury, the trial court delivered a slighdy modified version of the written instruction, as follows:
"To find that the special circumstances referred to in these instructions as murder in the commission of robbery, burglary, and/or sodomy, is true, it must be proved:
"One, the murder was committed while the Defendant was engaged in the commission of a robbery, burglary and/or sodomy; or the murder was committed during the immediate flight after the commission of a robbery, burglary and/or sodomy by the Defendant.
"Two, the murder was committed in order to carry out or advance the commission of the crimes of robbery, burglary, and/or sodomy, or to facilitate the escape therefrom or to avoid detection.
"In other words, the special circumstances referred to in these instructions is not established if the attempted robbery, burglary and/or sodomy were merely incidental to the commission of the murder."
We shall assume for purposes of analysis that the jury followed the written instructions. (People v. Osband (1996) 13 Cal.4th 622, 687, 55 Cal.Rptr.2d 26, 919 P.2d 640; Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 138, 36 Cal.Rptr.2d 474, 885 P.2d 887, and cases cited.)
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