State v. Nelson

KONENKAMP, Justice.

[¶ 1.] At inquiry in this case is whether a trial court must follow fundamental procedures for conducting a jury trial. Although it provided complete written instructions to the jury, the court at the close of the evidence failed to read all the instructions as required by law, including those on the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof. The court also sent out thirteen jurors to deliberate, over the strenuous objections of the State and with the uninformed consent of the pro se defendant. We conclude that these actions created plain error, cumulatively…