Opinion ID: 2517324
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: The Jury Instruction on the Threats

Text: Defendant contends the jury instruction on the threats discussed above improperly removed from the jury's consideration the question whether his conduct amounted to a criminal act. The court gave the jury a version of CALJIC No. 8.87, as follows: Evidence has been introduced for the purpose of showing that the defendant Lanell Harris has committed the following criminal acts: Threatening a School Officer and Robbery which involved the express or implied use of force or violence or the threat of force or violence. Before a juror may consider any of such criminal acts as an aggravating circumstance in this case, a juror must first be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Lanell Harris, did in fact commit such criminal acts. A juror may not consider any evidence of any other criminal acts as an aggravating circumstance. It is not necessary for all jurors to agree. If any juror is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that such criminal activity occurred, that juror may consider that activity as a fact in aggravation. If a juror is not so convinced, that juror must not consider that evidence for any purpose. Defendant complains that the jury was told the threats were criminal in nature. His reading of the instruction is unduly strained. It did not inform the jury that the acts he committed were necessarily criminal threats. The references to such criminal acts or activity in the latter parts of the instruction clearly referred back to the opening sentence, which explained that the jury was to consider the evidence that the prosecution offered for the purpose of proving the offense. Thus, the jury would reasonably have understood that it was to weigh the evidence to decide whether it showed, beyond a reasonable doubt, that defendant committed the criminal act of threatening a school officer. (See People v. Monterroso, supra, 34 Cal.4th at p. 793; People v. Nakahara, supra, 30 Cal.4th at p. 720.)