California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Quiles, H045800 (Cal. App. 2020):
Accordingly, even if we assume that the trial court erred in failing to give CALCRIM No. 703, any error was not prejudicial and was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. " 'We have consistently held that when a trial court fails to instruct the jury on an element of a special circumstance allegation, the prejudicial effect of the error must be measured under the test set forth in Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18, 24.' " (Mil, supra, 53 Cal.4th at p. 409.) Any failure to instruct on the elements of being a major participant and acting with reckless indifference was harmless because those elements are required only when a jury finds that a defendant was not the actual killer.
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