(Download) "State V. Portillo" by Arizona Supreme Court " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: State V. Portillo
- Author : Arizona Supreme Court
- Release Date : January 29, 1995
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 58 KB
Description
Defendants Martin Portillo and Mario Tercero were convicted of various crimes in separate, unrelated trials. Over defense objection in both cases, the trial court gave an instruction defining the term "reasonable doubt."*fn1 Concluding that the instruction was not improper, the court of appeals affirmed Tercero's conviction by memorandum decision. State v. Tercero, No. 1 CA-CR 93-0348, mem. dec. at 8 (Ariz. Ct. App. July 26, 1994). In Portillo's case, the court of appeals similarly found no error in giving the instruction, although it reversed his conviction on other grounds. State v. Portillo, 179 Ariz. 116, 121, 876 P.2d 1151, 1156 (App. 1994). That court, however, went on to say that because "the attempt to define reasonable doubt adds nothing useful, we recommend that trial courts not give this instruction in the future." Id. We granted a petition for review filed by Tercero and the state's petition for review in Portillo, consolidated the cases for oral argument and decision,*fn2 and permitted supplemental and amicus briefs on the following issues: