Court Opinion

ID: 9624550
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:08:15.215326+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:50:11.414181
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE ERICKSON
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. Error occurred in this case, and in my opinion, it was not harmless. The standard applied to constitutional error in Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1976), is not applicable to the issues in this case. The defendant was entitled to have a properly instructed jury determine his guilt or innocence.
The defendant contends that the statutory terms “willful” or “knowingly” do not include “reasonably should be aware.” I agree. The majority opinion concludes that the jury determined that the defendant actually knew that the statements were misleading. Such a conclusion places this court in the position of being the omnipotent jury. Since the jury was not properly instructed, I would reverse and remand for a new trial.