Pannell v. State

OPINION

CORNISH, Judge:

The appellants were jointly tried and convicted of Murder in the First Degree, in Oklahoma County District Court, Case No. CRF-79-1430. Each received a sentence of life imprisonment.

First it is asserted the trial court attempted to define “reasonable doubt” during voir dire of the jury. The appellants urge that as a consequence the request for a new jury panel should have been granted.

An attempt to define “reasonable doubt” by a trial judge is reversible error. Jones v. State, 554 P.2d 830 (Okl.Cr.1976). The phrase “reasonable doubt” is self-explanatory; definitions do…