Defendant appealed from his conviction on four counts of statutory sodomy involving two victims. On appeal, defendant challenged the exclusion of a DSS employee’s testimony from evidence and also challenged the jury instructions on the verdict director for two of ...

Tagged with: jury instructions statutory sodomy

Where a former locomotive engineer claimed that the railroad was negligent for providing loose cab seats that failed to protect him from excessive shock and jarring, which resulted in significant back injuries, the trial court’s refusal to give a proffered ...

Tagged with: FELA jury instructions Negligence Per Se

Where a plaintiff who suffered an eye injury while working for his railway employer challenged an adverse verdict on retaliation claims brought under the Federal Railroad Safety Act, the jury instructions misstated the “honestly held belief” defense in the context ...

Tagged with: FRSA jury instructions Retaliation

Where a defendant challenged his conviction and sentence on charges including assault in the first degree, the victim’s pre-trial identification of the defendant from a photo lineup was not unduly suggestive, and the admission of a firearm found in a ...

Tagged with: Admission of Gun jury instructions Pre-Trial Lineup

For the second time, a panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has sent a railroad employment case back to a U.S. district court because of faulty jury instructions. Referred to by plaintiff Edward Blackorby in his appeals ...

Tagged with: 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals BNSF Federal Railroad Safety Act jury instructions

The Missouri Supreme Court on July 16 issued a unanimous ruling designed to put an end to the “tortured history” of an “inconsistency in the law” regarding jury instructions. The focus of the high court was the principle, enshrined into ...

Tagged with: jury instructions Missouri Supreme Court

Defendant appealed his conviction for third-degree assault, arguing that the trial court improperly allowed the prosecutor, during closing argument, to read a statute addressing the offense of resisting arrest and to read appellate cases discussing the physical force required to ...

Tagged with: Assault Discussion of Uncharged Statute jury instructions

Where a defendant challenged jury instructions in his child-molestation case, the judgment is affirmed because the defendant did not show plain error, and his unpreserved double-jeopardy claim did not warrant review. Judgment is affirmed. State v. Stuckley (MLW No. 73217/Case ...

Tagged with: child molestation Criminal Law jury instructions

  Where a father brought sued the mother of his children and her parents for intentional interference with custody and false imprisonment after the mother abducted the children for three years with her parents’ help, and the jury returned a ...

Tagged with: Child Abduction Family Law Interference With Custody jury instructions

  Where a defendant challenged his conviction for attempted child enticement, the defendant failed to show that any instructional error affected the verdict, and the judgment is affirmed because the defendant failed to provide a factual basis for his proposed ...

Tagged with: Child Enticement Closing Argument Criminal Law jury instructions

  Where  a defendant challenged his conviction for attempted sexual abuse, the defendant’s statement to police that he intended to see and touch the victim’s breasts was direct evidence of intent and the defendant took a substantial step toward that ...

Tagged with: Attempted Sexual Abuse Criminal Law jury instructions Sufficiency Of Evidence