State v. Gebremariam

I respectfully dissent. While I agree with the majority that the trial court committed errors, I do not agree that those errors mandate reversal. As a general rule, when a party raises an issue for the first time on appeal, we review the party’s claim by using a plain error analysis. See State v. Cross, 577 N.W.2d 721, 723 n. 1 (Minn.1998); see also Minn. R.Crim. P. 31.02. In the past we have applied this analysis to alleged errors in jury instructions and there is no reason why we should not apply the same analysis in the present case. See Cross, 577 N.W.2d at 726; see also State v. Griller,…