Supreme Court of Georgia

Daniel v. State

August 14, 2017

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the denial of Daniel's requested criminal-trespass jury instruction in his burglary trial. It held that a defendant never bears a burden to disprove an element or present affirmative evidence, but a lesser-included-offense instruction still requires some evidence supporting that offense; no such evidence existed here. The court disapproved any contrary reading of the Court of Appeals' reasoning.