What is the test for a jury to prohibit "biblical references" in their deliberations?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Gomez, 240 Cal.Rptr.3d 315, 430 P.3d 791, 6 Cal.5th 243 (Cal. 2018):

" When an appellate court addresses a claim of jury misinstruction, it must assess the instructions as a whole, viewing the challenged instruction in context with other instructions, in order to determine if there was a reasonable likelihood the jury applied the challenged instruction in an impermissible manner. " ( People v. Jennings (2010) 50 Cal.4th 616, 677, 114 Cal.Rptr.3d 133, 237 P.3d 474, quoting People v. Wilson (2008) 44 Cal.4th 758, 803804, 80 Cal.Rptr.3d 211, 187 P.3d 1041.) The trial court's prohibition on "biblical references" followed its instruction that "you're not to bring anything to the deliberation process," suggesting that the jury understood the instruction as a whole as forbidding extrinsic sources of law or evidenceof which biblical references were merely an exampleduring deliberations. This conclusion is supported by the trial court's statement that he wanted to "emphasize again as I've done before." The jury was likely to understand this statement as a reference to the court's guilt phase instruction that the jury "cannot refer to" "a religious text of some kind, a bible or something like that" because it is "outside information."

Other Questions


How have the jury been instructed to interpret the meaning of deliberate deliberate deliberate use of the word "deliberately" in the dictionary? (California, United States of America)
What is the test for deliberate, deliberate or even deliberate action in an assault case? (California, United States of America)
Does section 1089 of the California Criminal Code require a jury to disregard all previous deliberations and disregard all past deliberations and begin deliberating anew? (California, United States of America)
What is the test for deliberate, deliberate, and/or deliberation in the context of an attempted murder case? (California, United States of America)
Can a defense counsel argue that premeditation and deliberation is not sufficient to establish that mere intent to kill is equivalent to premeditating or deliberation? (California, United States of America)
Does a motion for a "special" anti-SLAPP suit motion refer to "complaint" refer to an earlier complaint that had been amended to contain anti-free speech claims? (California, United States of America)
What is the impact of a jury's deliberation on the length of deliberations? (California, United States of America)
What is the test for a jury to convict a defendant of deliberate and deliberate murder? (California, United States of America)
Does the definition of premeditation under section 664(a) of the California Criminal Code apply to a murder that was committed intentionally, deliberately or deliberately? (California, United States of America)
Is a prosecutor prohibited from vouching for the credibility of witnesses or otherwise bolstering the veracity of their testimony by referring to evidence that was not in the record? (California, United States of America)
X



Alexi white


"The most advanced legal research software ever built."

Trusted by top litigators from across North America.