California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Sandoval, 196 Cal.Rptr.3d 424, 363 P.3d 41, 62 Cal.4th 394 (Cal. 2015):
The federal Constitution does not require the giving of an instruction on evaluating circumstantial evidence where the trial court correctly instructs the jury on reasonable doubt. (People v. Livingston (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1145, 1167, 140 Cal.Rptr.3d 139, 274 P.3d 1132.) However, this court "has long held" that, under certain circumstances, "trial courts must give 'an instruction embodying the principle that to justify a conviction on circumstantial evidence the facts and circumstances must not only be entirely consistent with the theory of guilt but must be inconsistent with any other rational conclusion.' " (Ibid. )
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