State v. Baptiste
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, defendant Oles Baptiste was convicted of assault of a peace officer and interfering with an officer. Defendant appealed, claiming that the trial court's jury instructions on the charges deprived him of his right to a fair trial and to present a defense. The appellate court affirmed, concluding that Defendant waived any constitutional or plain error claim by not raising an objection in the lower court proceedings. On appeal, Defendant claimed that the appellate court erred in concluding that he waived his claim of instructional error under State v. Kitchens, asserting that he did not have a meaningful opportunity for review of the jury instructions because the trial court held only a brief charging conference and Defendant did not receive a written copy of the instructions. The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the appellate court, holding that because Defendant did not have a meaningful opportunity to review the charges, Defendant's claim was not implicitly waived under Kitchens. Remanded.
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