Opinion ID: 1576386
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Heading: Jury Instruction Regarding the Defense of Intoxication.

Text: Defendant claims that the trial court improperly instructed the jury on defendant's defense of intoxication. Specifically, defendant contends that the intoxication instruction (Iowa Uniform Jury Instruction # 210) is faulty because it failed to remind the jurors that the burden remained on the State to prove the specific intent of defendant at the time of the offense. In State v. Holmes, 276 N.W.2d 823 (Iowa 1979), we faced this same challenge to this same jury instruction. In Holmes, we held that the jury instructions, when viewed as a whole, left no doubt about the State's burden of proof on the question of intent. Id. at 826. As in Holmes, we conclude defendant's claim is without merit because the other jury instructions in this case made it clear that the State had the burden to prove defendant's intent, even though defendant relied on the intoxication defense.