State v. Snow

¶ 1. Defendant appeals his conviction for sexual assault under 13 V.S.A. § 3252. Defendant contends that the trial court gave an improper jury instruction, mischaracterizing the law and eliminating the State’s burden to prove each and every element of the crime as charged. We conclude that the jury instruction accurately reflected the law as applied to the circumstances of this case and that the instruction did not compromise defendant’s ability to contest the charges against him. We therefore affirm.

¶ 2. The salient facts and procedural background are as follows. Defendant was charged with…