Opinion ID: 1444179
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Jury instruction on the use of character evidence

Text: Appellant contends that the jury was not instructed that it could not consider bad acts in determining the existence of aggravating or mitigating circumstances, or that bad act evidence could not be part of the weighing process. Appellant did not object to any of the jury instructions and only proposed a lingering doubt jury instruction. Failure to object to or request a jury instruction precludes appellate review, unless the error is patently prejudicial and requires the court to act sua sponte to protect the defendant's right to a fair trial. Flanagan v. State, 112 Nev. 1409, 1423, 930 P.2d 691, 700 (1996), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 118 S.Ct. 1534, 140 L.Ed.2d 684 (1998). We conclude that no patently prejudicial error occurred here, and we therefore decline to address this issue.