Cook v. State

1. In the absence of an appropriate and timely request that the meaning of the term “reasonable doubt” be defined for the jury, it is not error for the trial judge to confine his instructions upon this subject to the statement that “the guilt of the accused must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt,” and that “the testimony which the State is required to produce to remove the presumption of innocence must be of such a character and carry such weight as to remove from your minds any reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt.” The instruction given in the present case upon the subject of…