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Instructions And Issues Omitted By The Pattern Instructions
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VOLUME 4 - CHAPTER 38
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38.1 Accomplice Corroboration
38.1.1 Accomplice Corroboration: General Principles
38.1.2 Accomplice Corroboration: One Accomplice Cannot Corroborate Another
38.1.3 Accomplice Corroboration: False Alibi Insufficient
38.1.4 Consciousness Of Guilt Insufficient To Corroborate Accomplice
FORECITE National™
Instructions And Issues Omitted By The Pattern Instructions
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VOLUME 4 - CHAPTER 38
38.1.1 Accomplice Corroboration: General Principles
RATIONALE: Because an accomplice will naturally attempt to shift the blame to another, a conviction should not be based on the uncorroborated statements of an accomplice.
POINTS AND AUTHORITIES: See Bryson v. State (OK 1994) 876 P2d 240, 256; Burns v. State (TX 1985) 703 SW2d 649, 651 [when there exists no doubt as to the character of a witness as an accomplice as a matter of law court must instruct the jury that they cannot convict on that witness’s testimony alone]; but see U.S. v. Rockelman (8th Cir. 1995) 49 F3d 418, 423 [no mandatory duty to give cautionary instruction re: uncorroborated accomplice]; see also Wharton’s Criminal Law (West, 15th ed. 1993) § 38, pp. 238-40.)
FEDERALIZATION: To federalize this request, click here. [Constitutional Macro 2.3; 4.1; 5.3; 6.7].
FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY: It has been held that accomplice corroboration is not required by the federal constitution. (See FORECITE National™ 296.2.2.5 [Standard Of Prejudice On Appeal: Failure To Instruct On Accomplice Corroboration Requirement].)
SAMPLE INSTRUCTION:
You may not convict the defendant based upon the [testimony] [and/or] [out of court statements of ____________ (insert name of alleged accomplice*)] unless the prosecution presents additional evidence which connects the defendant with the offense.
* See FORECITE National™ 19.3.17 [No Reference To The Term "Accomplice"].
[Cf. CALIFORNIA JURY INSTRUCTIONS - CRIMINAL, CALJIC 3.11 [Testimony Of Accomplice Must Be Corroborated] (West, 6th Ed. 1996).]
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VOLUME 4 - CHAPTER 38
38.1.2 Accomplice Corroboration: One Accomplice Cannot Corroborate Another
RATIONALE: In jurisdictions requiring accomplice corroboration, allowing one accomplice to corroborate another would be improper bootstrapping since neither accomplice will have been corroborated by other nonaccomplice testimony.
POINTS AND AUTHORITIES: See MINNESOTA JURY INSTRUCTION GUIDES - CRIMINAL, CRIMJIG 3.18, ¶ 5 [Accomplice Testimony] (West 4th Ed.1999); UNIFORM CRIMINAL JURY INSTRUCTIONS (OREGON) UCrJI 1055, ¶ 4 [Other Accomplice Instructions] (Oregon State Bar, 1998).
FEDERALIZATION: To federalize this request, click here. [Constitutional Macro 2.3; 4.1; 5.3; 6.7].
RESEARCH NOTES:
See generally, FORECITE National™ 305.1.5 [Accomplices].
SAMPLE INSTRUCTION # 1:
Accomplice testimony must be corroborated by evidence other than accomplice testimony or statements.
[Cf. MINNESOTA JURY INSTRUCTION GUIDES - CRIMINAL, CRIMJIG 3.18, ¶ 5 [Accomplice Testimony] (West 4th Ed.1999).]
SAMPLE INSTRUCTION # 2:
Accomplice corroboration may not come from the testimony or statements of another accomplice. It must instead come from other evidence apart from the testimony of another accomplice or accomplices.
[Cf. UNIFORM CRIMINAL JURY INSTRUCTIONS (OREGON) UCrJI 1055, ¶ 4 [Other Accomplice Instructions] (Oregon State Bar, 1998).]
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VOLUME 4 - CHAPTER 38
38.1.3 Accomplice Corroboration: False Alibi Insufficient
See FORECITE National™ 38.1.4 [Consciousness Of Guilt Insufficient To Corroborate Accomplice].
RESEARCH NOTES:
See generally, FORECITE National™ 305.1.5 [Accomplices].
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VOLUME 4 - CHAPTER 38
38.1.4 Consciousness Of Guilt Insufficient To Corroborate Accomplice
PRACTICE NOTE: Where an accomplice's testimony is bolstered only by evidence of consciousness of guilt, the evidence is insufficient to find the necessary corroboration. For example, in People v. Reddy (NY 1933) 185 NE 705, two men committed a robbery/murder and the question came down to whether the accomplice's incriminating testimony was adequately corroborated by the defendant's flight from parole authorities. The court determined that even if there were a connection between the defendant's flight and the commission of the crime, it was "so inherently weak and inconclusive as to furnish no reasonable ground for a finding by the jury that the accomplice was telling the truth." (Reddy,185 NE at 708.)
Similarly, a defendant’s false alibi, standing alone, is insufficient to corroborate the testimony of an accomplice. (People v. Moses (NY 1984) 472 NE2d 4, 5; see also Leventhal, CHARGES TO THE JURY AND REQUESTS TO CHARGE IN A CRIMINAL CASE (NEW YORK) 5.09 [Defenses-Alibi–Commentary] p. 245 (West, 1999); but see People v. Leyra (NY 1956) 134 NE2d 475, 480 [evidence as to assertion of false explanation or alibis and as to destruction or concealment of other evidence may be sufficient to corroborate an accomplice's testimony].)
See generally, FORECITE National™ 270.4.2 [Proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt: Applicable To Subordinate Facts Essential To Proof Of An Element Of A Crime].
RESEARCH NOTES:
See generally, FORECITE National™ 305.1.5 [Accomplices].