People v. Mills
Annotate this CaseDefendant was charged with murder, pled not guilty, and also raised an insanity defense. At the guilt phase trial, the prosecutor requested a jury instruction that Defendant was conclusively presumed to have been sane at the time of the offense. Defendant objected that the instruction might lead the jury to disregard the evidence of his mental illness and its effect on the intent required for murder. The court overruled the objection, gave the instruction on the presumption of sanity, and refused Defendant's request for an instruction on the legal definition of sanity. The jury convicted Defendant of first degree murder. The court of appeal affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) although Defendant established no due process violation, the instruction was erroneous under state law, as the question of a defendant's sanity is entirely irrelevant at the guilt phase of a bifurcated trial under Cal. Pen. Code 1026; but (2) the error was harmless in this case.
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