Supreme Court of California
People v. Diaz, S205145
Defendant was convicted of one count of willful, deliberate, and premeditated attempted murder and three counts of threatening to commit a crime resulting in death or great bodily injury. Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment for the attempted murder and a consecutive three year, four-month prison term for the criminal threats. The Court of Appeal affirmed defendant's conviction, holding that the failure of the trial court to instruct the jury to consider defendant's out-of-court statements with caution was harmless in light of the other instructions the jury received and the evidence in this case. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed, where: 1) the cautionary instruction is applicable when the statements at issue are criminal threats; 2) the trial court is no longer required to give the instruction sua sponte; and 3) in the present case, the failure to give the instruction, even if error, was harmless.
Appellate Information
- Decided 04/06/2015
- Published 04/06/2015
Judges
- Cantil-Sakauye
Court
- Supreme Court of California