CRIMINAL LAW

SECTION 1 - COLQUITT

FALL 2002

Jury Instruction - Pleas

Ala. Pattern Jury Instr. - Crim. § 13A-3-1 (1989)

To the charge against him in the indictment the defendant has (also) entered a plea that he is not guilty by reason of severe mental disease or defect.

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By entering this plea, the defendant does not waive or give up his general plea of not guilty. Likewise, he does not give up the presumption that he is innocent until proven guilty. The burden is still on the State to prove each and every essential element of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt.

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