People v. Diaz

Opinion

CANTIL-SAKAUYE, C. J.

We granted review to resolve a conflict in the Courts of Appeal regarding whether a trial court has the duty to instruct a jury to consider a criminal defendant’s out-of-court statements with caution when the statements at issue form the basis of a prosecution for making criminal threats. We also asked the parties to brief whether we should continue to require courts to instruct that a defendant’s out-of-court statements must be viewed with caution even in the absence of a request.

We hold that the cautionary instruction is applicable when the statements at issue…