Opinion ID: 2595488
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Jury Instruction 3 was too Ambiguous

Text: Metzger asserts that the instructions given to the jury were not adequate to guide the jury through their decision-making process. In particular, Metzger complains that Instruction No. 3 left the jury in the dark as to any sort of differentiation between count I and count II and left open the possibility that the jury was not required to reach unanimous verdicts. The standard for assessing such a claim of error is well-established. Jury instructions should inform the jurors concerning the applicable law so that they can apply that law to their findings with respect to the material facts; instructions should be written with the particular facts and legal theories of each case in mind and often differ from case to case since any one of several instructional options may be legally correct; a failure to give an instruction on an essential element of a criminal offense is fundamental error, as is a confusing or misleading instruction; the test whether a jury has been properly instructed on the necessary elements of a crime is whether the instructions leave no doubt as to the circumstances under which the crime can be found to have been committed. Compton v. State, 931 P.2d 936, 939-40 (Wyo.1997) ( citing Miller v. State, 904 P.2d 344, 348 (Wyo.1995)). W.R.Cr.P. 3(b)(1) requires that an information contain a plain, concise and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged. That rule, which corresponds to F.R.Cr.P. 7(c)(1), has this mission: Rule 7(c)(1)put an end to `the rules of technical and formalized pleading which had characterized an earlier era.' The complex requirements of common-law criminal pleading and of some state practices are now obsolete. State procedural requirements are not controlling. The precision and detail formerly demanded are no longer required, imperfections of form that are not prejudicial are disregarded, and common sense and reason prevail over technicalities. The fundamental functions and requirements of an indictment have not been modified, and it is still essential that every element of an offense be stated and that the defendant be given fair notice of the charge against him, but the rule now permits a plain, concise, and definite statement of the essential facts constituting the offense. 1 Charles Alan Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure: Criminal 3d § 123, pp. 529-32 (1999). Jury Instruction No. 3 contained this language: YOU ARE INSTRUCTED that the information in this case provides as follows: COMES NOW Michael W. Schafer, Assistant District Attorney, Seventh Judicial District, State of Wyoming, and in the name and by the authority of the State of Wyoming informs the Court and gives the Court to understand that DAVID METZGER, late of the county aforesaid, on or between the 1st day of March, 1996, and the 31st day of May, 1996, in the County of Natrona, in the State of Wyoming, did unlawfully