State v. Daniels

I concur in the result reached by Justice Pleicones, but writing for a majority of the Court, find that Appellant’s burden-shifting arguments are preserved. The adequacy of the trial court’s entire overall instruction cured any possible constitutional deprivation. In addition, the State presented overwhelming evidence of Appellant’s guilt, rendering any error in the jury instruction harmless.

I. PRESERVATION

At trial, defense counsel objected to portions of the trial court’s proposed jury instruction. First, defense counsel took exception to the trial court’s proposed statement that “everyone…