Court Opinion

ID: 9685309
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 14:29:57.813236+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:04.560632
License: Public Domain

MORENO, J.,
Concurring. — I concur in the majority opinion. The possible effect of the majority’s holding, however, is a cause for some concern. Rather than being required to find a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the underlying offense, the jury that tries a penalty enhancement separately will presumably be told that a defendant has been found guilty of that offense, otherwise it would not be able to convict on the enhancement. In this circumstance, there is the potential that the presumption of innocence for the penalty enhancement, in practical terms, will be eroded, and that therefore a defendant being retried on the enhancement alone will be in a more disadvantageous position than he was in the original trial when the offense and the enhancement were tried together. Whether current standard jury instructions are adequate to safeguard the presumption of innocence in this situation, or a new instruction is needed, remains to be determined.
On August 26, 2009, the opinion was modified to read as printed above.