People v. Debouver
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his conviction for first degree residential burglary with a "person present" finding. The court rejected defendant's claim that the trial court undermined his Sixth Amendment right to represent himself when it denied his request for advisory counsel; assuming arguendo that the trial court erred in not excluding the statements at issue pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, such error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt where the evidence of guilt was overwhelming and defendant's inculpatory statements were merely incidental and were only used to impeach him; there was no prosecutorial misconduct where the use of defendant's statements for impeachment purposes was harmless in light of the eye witness identification, the physical evidence, and the DNA test results; because defendant did not object to the “person present” instruction or ask for an amplifying instruction, he waived the alleged error; and, waiver aside, the alleged instructional error was harmless by any standard of review. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
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