Opinion ID: 2516369
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendant's Requested Jury Instruction Number Five

Text: ś 72 The trial court refused to give defendant's requested jury instruction number five on separate and distinct offenses. Defendant assigns error, arguing that without the instruction, the jury was permitted to infer that if the defendant stole the vehicle, he also murdered the victim. The requested instruction provided: Each Count Charges a Separate and Distinct Offense. You must decide each count separately on the evidence and the law applicable to it, uninfluenced by any decision as to the other counts. A defendant may be convicted or acquitted on any of the offenses charged. Your finding as to each count must be stated in a separate verdict. ś 73 Where a defendant is charged and tried for two or more separate offenses in the same trial, the state must prove guilt on each charge, and the jury must decide each charge separately. State v. Parra, 10 Ariz.App. 427, 430, 459 P.2d 344, 347 (1969). ś 74 The state argues that the defendant's rights were not prejudiced because other instructions made it clear that jurors were required to decide each count separately. Included were statements that the state must prove each element of each charge beyond a reasonable doubt and the state must prove each charge beyond a reasonable doubt. (Emphasis added). ś 75 In assessing the adequacy of jury instructions, the instructions must be viewed in their entirety in order to determine whether they accurately reflect the law. State v. Walden, 183 Ariz. 595, 613-14, 905 P.2d 974, 992-93 (1995), rejected on other grounds by State v. Ives, 187 Ariz. 102, 107-08, 927 P.2d 762, 767-68 (1996). Therefore, when the substance of a proposed instruction is adequately covered by other instructions, the trial court is not required to give it. State v. Mott, 187 Ariz. 536, 546, 931 P.2d 1046, 1056 (1997). In this case, the court could have given the requested instruction, but it would have been surplusage, and there was no error in omitting it because other instructions indicated that the state was required to prove each charge and each element beyond a reasonable doubt. There is nothing in the record to suggest that the jury misunderstood its mandate. Moreover, the use of separate verdict forms for each crime, coupled with the fact that the defendant was not convicted on the felony murder charge, but was convicted of premeditated murder, demonstrate the point.