People v. Jackson

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

In instructing the jury, the trial court stated twice that a reasonable doubt was a doubt for which the jurors would, if called upon, be able to give a reason. It also offered an extended illustration to that effect, using jurors’ names. Defense counsel objected that the charge conveyed that a reasonable doubt must be based on a "reason that [the jurors] could articulate.” Counsel argued that such an instruction punished less articulate people on the jury, who might vote guilty "because of the charge * * *…