Daniel Lopez DeJesus v. Jeff Premo, Superintendent, Oregon State Penitentiary
DueProcess HabeasCorpus
Did the Ninth Circuit err in applying the harmless error analysis to a jury instruction that implicitly included critical elements of the crime charged?
QUESTION(S) PRESENTED . Mr. Dejesus alleged that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to a jury instruction that effectively aided the state to surpass the necessary threshold of proving elements of the crime charged. Mr. Dejesus was convicted, in large part, by the use of a mandatory, conclusive, and irrebuttable presumptive jury instruction that directed the jury to convict Mr. Dejesus for a crime that the state did not prove under in re Winship. Did the Ninth Circuit err in applying the harmless error analysis to a jury instruction that implicitly included critical elements of the crime charged? i