State v. Daughton

COLE, Judge.

In this case we are asked to decide whether the trial court committed plain error in failing to instruct the jury that it could find the defendant not guilty.

The parties have agreed on a statement of facts. Ricky Daughton was charged with two counts of murder. A jury trial was conducted over a three day period in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. At the conclusion of the evidentiary phase of the trial, the trial judge proceeded to instruct the jury on the presumption of innocence and the State’s burden of proof:

In this case, as in other criminal cases, the accused is presumed…