State v. Cabagbag
Annotate this CaseDefendant Steve Cabagbag allegedly stole a truck from a storage facility as well as several tools from a construction site. A jury found Defendant guilty of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and theft in the second degree. The trial court sentenced Defendant to two concurrent five-year terms of probation. The intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirmed. Defendant appealed, arguing that the circuit court committed plain error for failing to provide a jury instruction regarding eyewitness identification because the jury's attention was not adequately drawn to the identification issue. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) in criminal cases, the circuit courts must give the jury a specific eyewitness identification instruction whenever identification evidence is a central issue in the case, and it is requested by the defendant; (2) a circuit court may, in the exercise of its discretion, give the instruction if it believes the instruction is otherwise warranted in a particular case; (3) this new rule should be given prospective effect; and (4) Defendant's conviction is affirmed under the rule then in effect when he was tried.
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