Criminal Procedure – Unanimity Instruction 

Posted: 1:00 am Tue, March 16, 2010
By admin
Tags: Criminal Procedure

Where a jury found defendant guilty of first-degree burglary and domestic assault of his former girlfriend (the victim) but not guilty of other counts, including the fifth-degree assault of the victim’s friend who was also in the apartment; we conclude that defendant failed to show a reasonable likelihood that a further unanimity instruction would have had a significant effect on the verdict because defendant committed the first-degree burglary offense by assaulting someone regardless of who he assaulted, and the jury found that defendant had assaulted the victim but not her friend.

We also conclude that the evidence was sufficient to show that defendant committed the burglary.

Affirmed.