Court Opinion

ID: 9470132
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:58:01.457766+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:45.105768
License: Public Domain

McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Under no circumstances in a criminal case may a trial court lawfully direct a verdict of guilty against a defendant and instruct a jury to consider only the punishment to be assessed. So, too, if the trial court felt guilt was not an issue, why even give the jury a not guilty instruction or verdict form. Likewise, it does not make for an orderly procedure if the trial court gives the jury specific written instructions, only to then tell the jury to disregard or ignore them.
Because appellant failed to object in the trial court, as pointed out by the majority, I would consider the alleged error under the “plain error” rule. Consequently, because the record does not show the reasons for appellant’s failure to object in the trial court, I would remand to the district court with directions to develop a record on that issue before precluding appellant from federal habeas corpus review.