Opinion ID: 1995858
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Standard of Review as to the Jury Instruction Issue

Text: Our standard of review concerning jury instructions is well settled; we review such instructions in a de novo manner. State v. Palmer, 962 A.2d 758, 764 (R.I.2009); see also State v. Graham, 941 A.2d 848, 855 (R.I.2008); State v. Imbruglia, 913 A.2d 1022, 1031 (R.I.2007); State v. John, 881 A.2d 920, 929 (R.I.2005); State v. Hurteau, 810 A.2d 222, 224-25 (R.I.2002). In reviewing challenged jury instructions, it is our role to examine the instructions in their entirety to ascertain the manner in which a jury of ordinary intelligent lay people would have understood them,    and we review challenged portions of jury instructions in the context in which they were rendered. John, 881 A.2d at 929 (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Hurteau, 810 A.2d at 225; State v. Krushnowski, 773 A.2d 243, 246 (R.I.2001); State v. Gordon, 508 A.2d 1339, 1349 (R.I.1986). Further, this Court will not examine a single sentence apart from the rest of the instructions, but rather the challenged portions must be examined in the context in which they were rendered. State v. Kittell, 847 A.2d 845, 849 (R.I.2004) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Palmer, 962 A.2d at 764; State v. Hanes, 783 A.2d 920, 925 (R.I.2001). Moreover, even if we conclude that a jury instruction was erroneous, reversal is warranted only if a jury could have been misled to the prejudice of the complaining party. Graham, 941 A.2d at 855; see also Palmer, 962 A.2d at 764-65; Hodges v. Brannon, 707 A.2d 1225, 1228 (R.I.1998); Anter v. Ambeault, 104 R.I. 496, 501, 245 A.2d 137, 139 (1968). B