State v. Thao
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count of first-degree premeditated murder for the benefit of a gang and two counts of attempted first-degree premeditated murder for the benefit of a gang. The convictions arose from a drive-by shooting. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions, holding that the district court (1) did not commit prejudicial error when it admitted evidence of a prior drive-by shooting incident that led to Defendant’s prior conviction of attempted murder; (2) did not abuse its discretion when it permitted the State to introduce testimony on gangs from an expert witness; and (3) did not err in its instruction on reasonable doubt because it used language the Supreme Court approved in State v. Smith, rather than the language of the pattern jury instruction. Also, Defendant was not entitled to relief based on any of the claims contained in his pro se brief.
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