Opinion ID: 2543862
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Harmless Error Within The Context Of Jury Instructions

Text: We review the circuit court's jury instructions to determine whether, when read and considered as a whole, the instructions given are prejudicially insufficient, erroneous, inconsistent or misleading. State v. Valentine, 93 Hawai`i 199, 203, 998 P.2d 479, 483 (2000) (citations and internal quotations signals omitted). [E]rroneous instructions are presumptively harmful and are a ground for reversal unless it affirmatively appears from the record as a whole that the error was not prejudicial. [E]rror is not to be viewed in isolation and considered purely in the abstract. It must be examined in the light of the entire proceedings and given the effect which the whole record shows it to be entitled. In that context, the real question becomes whether there is a reasonable possibility that error may have contributed to conviction. If there is such a reasonable possibility in a criminal case, then the error is not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, and the judgment of conviction on which it may have been based must be set aside. Id. (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). State v. Hironaka, 99 Hawai`i 198, 204, 53 P.3d 806, 812 (2002).