People v. Smith

Opinion

DAVIS, J.

Confronting a “perfect storm” of prejudicial legal error, we face, yet again, the consequences of the inexplicable reluctance of a prosecutor to request, and a trial court to give, a unanimity instruction when there is a risk that the defendant will be convicted even though there is no agreement among the jurors as to which act constituting the crime defendant committed. Here, the result is not only a reversal of the one count defendant was convicted of committing, but also a likely dismissal of charges should the prosecutor elect to retry the defendant. In arriving at our…