State v. Courtney C. Beamon

¶ 53. Gdissenting). The precipitating error at trial lies not in the wording of a jury instruction. Rather, the precipitating error at trial lies in the State's decision to request a jury instruction that contains a factual theory of prosecution for which there was no supporting evidence.

¶ 54. The majority compounds that error by treating a factual theory of prosecution as an element of the offense, thus concluding that the jury instruction is erroneous. It is not.

¶ 55. Week in and week out, courts throughout this state regularly give jury instructions that contain factual theories of…