Stephen Robert Deck v. California
DueProcess CriminalProcedure
Whether the temporal direct step element of an attempt offense may be changed by jury instructions
QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Whether the temporal direct step element of an attempt offense may be changed by jury instructions to occur on the charged “on or about” dates, or the next day, or a date “reasonably close” to the charged dates without violating the Fourteenth Amendment due process right to a jury charge precisely stating the charged crime? 2. Whether the State can avoid the requirement of jury unanimity under Ramos v. Louisiana, __U.S.__, 140 S.Ct. 1390, 206 L.Ed.2d 583 (2020), by equating the direct step element of attempt with an overt act non-element of a conspiracy? 3. Whether Maryland v. Shatzer, 559 U.S. 98 (2010), permits an interview of a defendant in his home during the execution of a search warrant hours after his custodial arrest and invocation of the right to counsel? i