Tag: jury

The Perfect Chance to Re-Formulate an Imperfect Instruction

Karlie Ruder, Staff Editor
The Tenth Circuit clarifies when district courts must formulate and offer imperfect self-defense jury instructions.

Kansas Law Review blog

Kansas District Courts’ Authority to Interpret Ambiguous Jury Verdicts

Author: Ellen Bertels, Comments Editor State v. Brown, No. 115,817 (Kan. June 5, 2020). Issue:  Can a district court invoke the surplusage rule and discard part(s) of a jury verdict form when the form incorrectly lists the crimes …

Simultaneous Consideration No Longer Required for Kansas Homicide Instructions

State v. Sims, No. 115,038 (Kan. Nov. 30, 2018) Issue: The Kansas Supreme Court has previously held that courts must instruct juries to consider both greater and lesser offenses simultaneously in homicide cases. After years of criticism, should courts still require simultaneous instructions? Answer: No. Requiring …