Jury Instruction Describing “Serious Bodily Injury” Violated Defendant’s Constitutional Rights

Jury instructions that stated that defined strangulation unto consciousness as a "serious bodily injury" violated the defendant's constitutional rights because he was entitled to the jury making a determination of every element of the crime.

State v. Walker, 2017 UT App 2.

The Utah Court of Appeals held that a jury instruction incorporating language that defined strangulation unto consciousness as a “serious bodily injury” violated the defendant’s Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, requiring the verdict to be vacated and the case to be remanded for a new trial. The defendant was initially charged with aggravated assault for strangling his wife during a domestic dispute. During the trial, the jury was instructed of the varying levels of assault. Additionally, the court included an instruction that was not based on any statutory language, but two Utah Supreme Court cases, that stated “strangulation to the point of unconsciousness constitutes serious bodily injury.” The defendant objected to the instruction because it violated his “right to have the jury make a determination of proof beyond a reasonable doubt on each and every element of the offense.” The Court of Appeals rejected the state’s argument that the instruction incorporated a standard by the Supreme Court, finding that the definition of strangulation as a serious bodily injury was never meant to fit into the legislature’s definition of “serious bodily injury.” By including this instruction, the trial court supplanted the jury’s role as fact-finder and establishing the elements of the charged crime. The combination of the instruction, the evidence admitted during trial, and the closing argument by the prosecutor further highlighted the possible influence the instruction had on the jury in reaching their conclusion. 

https://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/appopin/State%20v.%20Walker20170106.pdf