Maryland's top court reaffirmed the decades-old standard for determining whether a trial court's error during a criminal case was harmless in an opinion issued late last week.

Tagged with: harmless error jonathan biran maryland court of appeals trial court

A judge’s television crime drama-inspired jury instruction that prosecutors need not present forensic evidence to prove guilt was a harmful error, Maryland’s top court ruled Friday in overturning a man’s robbery and assault conviction and 30-year prison sentence. In its ...

Tagged with: CSI forensic evidence harmless error Jury instructions

Maryland’s top court will consider whether a judge’s television crime drama-inspired jury instruction that prosecutors need not present forensic evidence to prove guilt was a harmless mistake, given that the victim’s compelling testimony left jurors with no reasonable doubt that the defendant had robbed and assaulted her.

Tagged with: csi effect harmless error Jury instructions