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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe following opinion was published after IL’s Wednesday deadline:
Indiana Supreme Court
Sabrina L. Dunn v. State of Indiana
24S-CR-123
Criminal. Vacates Sabrina Dunn’s murder conviction in Orange Circuit Court. Finds the trial court’s final instruction use of “and/or” was ambiguous and misleading. Also finds that, considering the instructions as a whole and the unusual facts of the trial, the high court concludes that the language describing the state’s burden of proof on Dunn’s defenses was so misleading as to produce fundamental error. Finally, finds the ambiguous, repeated, and uncured use of “and/or” to instruct the jury on the state’s burden of proof impaired the sole defense strategy Dunn pursued throughout the trial and there is a serious risk she was wrongly convicted without the state disproving beyond a reasonable doubt that she acted in defense of her dwelling. Remands to the trial court for further proceedings.
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