Does a court have a duty to refrain from instructing the jury on principles of law?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Watie, 100 Cal.App.4th 866, 124 Cal.Rptr.2d 258 (Cal. App. 2002):
In addition to its general duty to instruct on the law, the court "`has the correlative duty "to refrain from instructing on principles of law which not only are irrelevant to the issues raised by the evidence but also have the effect of confusing the jury or relieving it from making findings on relevant issues." [Citation.]'" (People v. Barker (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 1166, 1172, 111 Cal.Rptr.2d 403.)
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