Court Opinion

ID: 9688812
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 18:07:08.983969+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:42.426064
License: Public Domain

Boslaugh, J.,
dissenting in part.
I dissent only from that part of the opinion that holds that the statement of the trial court to the jury at the commencement of the trial that in a criminal case the judge determines only whether or not there is enough evidence to support a verdict was erroneous and prejudicial.
It would seem to be quite obvious that if at the end of the trial the court submits verdict forms to the jury before they retire to deliberate, including both guilty and not guilty forms, the court has determined that the evidence of the State, if believed, is sufficient to support a verdict of guilty.
The instructions to the jury which were given in this case at the end of the trial were in the usual form and advised the jury that if it found from the evidence presented that the State had proved beyond a reasonable doubt all of the elements of the crimes charged, which were set out in the instructions, it should find the defendant guilty. It seems to me that is but another way in which the court tells the jury that the court has determined that the evidence of the State is sufficient, if believed, to support a verdict of guilty.
In my opinion, the statement made in the preliminary instruction was neither erroneous nor prejudicial.