State v. Ingham

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The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals affirming Defendant’s conviction for one count of possession or use of a commercial explosive, holding that, although several errors occurred during Defendant’s trial, the errors and assumed errors, even taken in their cumulative effect, did not prejudicially effect the jury’s verdict.Defendant’s conduct leading to his convictions was putting gunpowder in a beer can and lighting it with a fuse. On appeal, Defendant argued that the district court erred when it allowed the State to use the phrases “pipe bomb” and “improvised explosive device” to describe the devices he constructed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Defendant failed to show that the use of the words at issue was improper or unfairly prejudiced his defense; (2) any error in the court’s admission of testimony that the legally obtained items were combined to make an “illegal improvised explosive device” was harmless; and (3) any error in the jury instructions was harmless. View "State v. Ingham" on Justia Law