Opinion ID: 1197841
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Aiding and Abetting Jury Instructions

Text: Appellant asserts that the trial court erred when it gave its instructions to the jury on the law of aiding and abetting. She argues that the instructions were erroneous because (1) they improperly emphasized the evidence which showed that Appellant had acted as a lookout for the boys and (2) they failed to inform the jury that it had to find that Appellant shared the boys' criminal intent to commit a felony in order to convict her of aiding and abetting. The trial court is required to present instructions to the jury on the law which is applicable to the issues which were actually raised by the evidence presented at the trial. Baier, 891 P.2d at 756. The trial court is given wide latitude in instructing the jury; and as long as the instructions correctly state the law and the entire charge to the jury adequately covers the issues, reversible error will not be found. Id. When we examine jury instructions, we must look at them in their entirety and read them together. Vigil, 859 P.2d at 663. Before a conviction will be reversed due to an erroneous instruction, the defendant must demonstrate that prejudice has occurred. An error in one instruction may be cured elsewhere in the jury instructions by conveying correct information to the jury `in a clear and concise manner so that it is unlikely that an erroneous impression would remain in the minds of the jurors.' Vigil, 859 P.2d at 663 ( quoting United States v. Pope, 561 F.2d 663, 670 (6th Cir.1977)). Christian v. State, 883 P.2d 376, 379 (Wyo. 1994) (citation omitted). Appellant objected at the jury instruction conference to Instruction No. 11, but the trial court overruled her objection and gave the instruction to the jury. Instruction No. 11 stated: INSTRUCTION NO. 11 One who knowingly stands guard or keeps watch while a crime is being perpetrated, in order to facilitate the escape of the person actually committing the crime, is aiding and abetting in the commission of that crime. In the first section of this opinion, we stated that Appellant's conviction for aiding and abetting would stand as long as the State proved that a crime had been committed and that Appellant had associated herself with and participated in the accomplishment and success of the criminal venture. This statement of the law was accurately related to the jury through the various instructions which were given to it. INSTRUCTION [NO.] 7 To be an accessory before the fact, a person must intend that his acts or words secure the commission of the felony. Merely assenting to or assisting in the commission of the felony without knowledge that a crime is going to be committed or that the defendant's actions are going to aid in the commission of the felony, is not criminal. INSTRUCTION [NO.] 8 In order to find the defendant guilty of being an accessory before the fact to a felony the commission of which requires a specific intent, it must be proven by the state and found both that: 1. The defendant had the intent necessary for an accessory before the fact; and 2. The principal in the crime had the specific intent necessary for the commission of the crime. INSTRUCTION NO. 8A To constitute the crime charged there must be a union of two essential elements, an act forbidden by law and a specific intent. Specific intent means more than the general intent to commit the act. To prove a crime which involves specific intent, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) That the Defendant did the act charged; and (2) That he did it with the specific intent described in the crime charged. The specific intent must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt as any other fact in the case. INSTRUCTION NO. 9 Pertinent portions of the Wyoming Statutes provide as follows: A person who knowingly aids or abets in the commission of a felony, or who counsels, encourages, hires, commands or procures a felony to be committed, is an accessory before the fact. An accessory before the fact: (i) May be indicted, informed against, tried and convicted as if he were a principal; (ii) May be indicted, informed against, tried and convicted either before or after an[d] whether or not the principal offender is indicted, informed against, tried or convicted. INSTRUCTION NO. 10 A person aids and abets the commission of a crime if he knowingly and with criminal intent aids, promotes, encourages, or instigates the commission by act or advice. Taken as a whole, the jury instructions advised the jury that Appellant could be convicted of aiding and abetting only if the jury found that she had acted knowingly and with a criminal intent. The trial court instructed the jury that, in order to convict Appellant, it must find that Appellant intended for her actions to secure the commission of the felony. Appellant obviously could not have formed such an intent if she did not know what the boys planned to do while they were inside the school. When Instruction No. 11 is read together with the other instructions, it does not unduly emphasize the evidence which had shown that Appellant acted as a lookout. The trial court properly tailored the legal instructions to the evidence which had actually been presented at the trial.