COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS 2017COA92
Court of Appeals No. 10CA1476
City and County of Denver District Court No. 09CR510
Honorable Robert L. McGahey, Jr., Judge
The People of the State of Colorado,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Sandra L. Jacobson,
Defendant-Appellant.
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED
Division IV
Opinion by JUDGE WEBB
Navarro and Kapelke*, JJ., concur
Announced July 13, 2017
Cynthia H. Coffman, Attorney General, Rebecca A. Jones, Senior Assistant
Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee
Douglas K. Wilson, Colorado State Public Defender, Andrew C. Heher, Deputy
State Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant
*Sitting by assignment of the Chief Justice under provisions of Colo. Const. art.
VI, § 5(3), and § 24-51-1105, C.R.S. 2016.
¶1 The general background appears in People v. Jacobson, 2014
COA 149 (Jacobson I), which reversed defendant’s conviction for
failure to poll the jury about exposure to extraneous, prejudicial
information. In People v. Jacobson, 2017 CO 28 (Jacobson II), the
supreme court reversed Jacobson I and remanded the case to us,
albeit without direction.
¶2 Before our mandate was issued, defendant, Sandra L.
Jacobson, asked us to decide two issues that had not been resolved
in Jacobson I. She correctly pointed out that either of these issues
could lead to reversal of the judgment of conviction entered on jury
verdicts finding her guilty of vehicular homicide, driving under the
influence (DUI), and other related charges, arising from a collision
between her truck and a taxi cab on Pena Boulevard.
¶3 We granted her request but now affirm the judgment of
conviction.
1
I. The Trial Court Did Not Err in Failing Sua Sponte to Instruct the
Jury on the Statutory DUI Affirmative Defense of Having Consumed
Alcohol Between the Time Defendant Stopped Driving and the Blood
Alcohol Content (BAC) Testing Occurred
A. Additional Background
¶4 Defendant testified at trial. She described herself as having
been “stone cold sober” when the accident occurred at about 10:30
a.m. But she said that on arrival at the Denver International
Airport’s cargo terminal some fifteen minutes later, she drank a
Vitamin Water bottle that contained one-half 99 proof schnapps.
¶5 Two police officers contacted defendant at 10:58 a.m. Neither
noticed any indicia of alcohol intoxication. Although defendant
remained in police custody and interacted with other officers, not
until about 3:00 p.m. did an officer notice bloodshot, watery eyes,
and slurred speech. This officer administered a roadside sobriety
test, which defendant failed. Then he took her to a hospital for a
blood draw.
¶6 Samples were taken at 3:55 p.m., 5:00 p.m., and 6:01 p.m.
The test results showed that her BAC was .164, .143, and .121,
respectively. Based on these results, the prosecution presented
2
expert testimony that defendant’s BAC had been .274 at the time of
the accident.
¶7 Defense counsel did not request the trial court to instruct the
jury on the DUI affirmative defense of having consumed alcohol
between the time that she stopped driving and when the testing
occurred.
B. Standard of Review and Law
¶8 Where a defendant did not request an affirmative defense
instruction, review is limited to plain error. See, e.g., People v.
Griffin, 224 P.3d 292, 298 (Colo. App. 2009). Plain error permits an
appellate court “to correct particularly egregious errors.” Wilson v.
People, 743 P.2d 415, 420 (Colo. 1987). The error must be “‘so
clear-cut, so obvious,’ a trial judge should be able to avoid it
without benefit of objection.” People v. Ujaama, 2012 COA 36, ¶ 42
(quoting People v. Taylor, 159 P.3d 730, 738 (Colo. App. 2006)).
¶9 Even then, an appellate court will reverse only if a defendant
shows “that the court committed an obvious and substantial error
that undermined the fundamental fairness of the trial so as to cast
serious doubt on the reliability of the judgment of conviction.”
Griffin, 224 P.3d at 298. To be sure, reversals under plain error
3
“must be rare to maintain adequate motivation among trial
participants to seek a fair and accurate trial the first time.” Hagos
v. People, 2012 CO 63, ¶ 23.
¶ 10 “We review de novo the question of whether a jury instruction
accurately informed the jury of the governing law.” People v.
Carbajal, 2014 CO 60, ¶ 10. “It is the duty of the trial court to
‘correctly instruct the jury on all matters of law for which there is
sufficient evidence to support giving instructions.’” Id. (quoting
Cassels v. People, 92 P.3d 951, 955 (Colo. 2004)).
¶ 11 Section 42-4-1301(1)(a), C.R.S. 2016, defines DUI. According
to section 42-4-1301(2)(a),
if a defendant presents some credible evidence,
that the defendant consumed alcohol between
the time that the defendant stopped driving
and the time that testing occurred, such issue
shall be an affirmative defense, and the
prosecution must establish beyond a
reasonable doubt that the minimum 0.08
blood or breath alcohol content required in
this paragraph (a) was reached as a result of
alcohol consumed by the defendant before the
defendant stopped driving.
(Emphasis added.) The parties have not cited a case, nor have we
found one, interpreting this language.
4
¶ 12 Despite this dearth of precedent, the following uncontroverted
authorities are informative.
“[P]roof of vehicular homicide under section 18-3-106(1)(b)(I)
required proof that defendant operated a vehicle while under
the influence of alcohol or drugs, or a combination thereof.”
People v. Grassi, 192 P.3d 496, 500 (Colo. App. 2008).
“[T]o present an affirmative defense for jury consideration, the
defendant must present ‘some credible evidence’ on the issue
involving the claimed defense.” People v. Garcia, 113 P.3d
775, 783-84 (Colo. 2005) (citing § 18-1-407, C.R.S. 2016).
Whether a defendant has met this burden is a question of law,
subject to de novo review. Id.
“Whatever questions may remain in federal law concerning
precisely when an affirmative defense ‘controverts,’ or ‘does
negate’ an element of an offense, long before the federal
constitution was construed to impose limitations on the
common law rule requiring criminal defendants to prove
affirmative defenses, we in this jurisdiction interpreted the
state due process clause to do so.” Montoya v. People, 2017
CO 40, ¶ 24.
5
¶ 13 On this much, the parties largely agree. As to the intersection
between plain error and omission of a statutory affirmative defense,
however, they differ. But we decline to resolve that difference
because we conclude that the trial court did not err in failing sua
sponte to instruct on the statutory affirmative defense.
C. Discussion
¶ 14 To begin, the Attorney General asserts that defendant invited
any error. The sole bases for this assertion are defense counsel’s
request for “an affirmative defense instruction based on intervening
cause,” which was not given, and his later statement to the trial
court that he did not request any further instructions. But the
possibility of instructing on the statutory affirmative defense had
never been discussed. Without more, we cannot apply invited error.
See People v. Stewart, 55 P.3d 107, 119 (Colo. 2002) (holding, where
defense counsel had tendered one instruction but not another, “a
nontactical instructional omission generally should be reviewed for
plain error”).
¶ 15 The Attorney General does not dispute that defendant
presented sufficient evidence to warrant an instruction on the
affirmative defense. And with good reason. The burden to produce
6
sufficient evidence is “exceedingly low,” making preclusion of an
affirmative defense appropriate only when there is “simply no
evidence . . . in th[e] record.” People v. Platt, 170 P.3d 802, 806
(Colo. App. 2007), aff’d, 201 P.3d 545 (Colo. 2009). The “scintilla of
evidence” standard is so low that “the evidence necessary to justify
an affirmative defense instruction may come solely from the
defendant’s testimony, even if the evidence is improbable.” People
v. Johnson, 2013 COA 122, ¶ 35.
¶ 16 Instead, according to the Attorney General, “by proving the
elements of vehicular homicide (DUI) beyond a reasonable doubt,
the prosecution also disproved the affirmative defense beyond a
reasonable doubt.” Specifically, the Attorney General points to
Instruction No. 8 (the elemental instruction on DUI), which required
the prosecution to prove, among other elements, that defendant,
(3) operated or drove a motor vehicle,
(4) while under the influence of any drug or
intoxicant, and
(5) such conduct is the proximate cause,
(6) of the death of another.
Thus, the Attorney General continues, by proving that defendant
“was intoxicated at the time of the accident,” the prosecution
7
“necessarily disproved the affirmative defense that the defendant
did not become intoxicated until a later time.”
¶ 17 No authority is cited to support this analysis. But since the
briefing closed, our supreme court said in Montoya, ¶ 29,
our entire rationale in [People v. Pickering, 276
P.3d 553 (Colo. 2011)] is premised on the
well-established proposition that a defense
operating solely by traversing, or negating,
elements of the crime itself is disproved, at one
and the same time, by proving those elements.
See, e.g., [People v. Huckleberry, 768 P.2d
1235, 1238-39 (Colo. 1989)] (holding that a
defense of alibi does not merit an affirmative
defense instruction because proof that the
defendant committed the crime itself
necessarily disproves the defendant’s assertion
that he was somewhere else).
This statement informs our analysis in two ways.
¶ 18 First, it undercuts defendant’s reliance on Pickering in her
reply brief.1 Second, the reference to Huckleberry shows why the
1 Defendant’s citation to People v. Garcia, 113 P.3d 775 (Colo.
2005), and Vega v. People, 893 P.2d 107 (Colo. 1995), are also
unavailing. In Garcia, the trial court had ruled before trial that
hypoglycemia could not support the defendant’s affirmative defense
of involuntary intoxication, thereby precluding the supreme court
from determining whether the trial record supported giving an
affirmative defense instruction. In Vega, the supreme court held
that the special offender statute is not a substantive offense to
which an affirmative defense is available.
8
statutory characterization of “an affirmative defense” is not
dispositive.
¶ 19 In Huckleberry, 768 P.2d at 1239, the court explained,
the essence of an affirmative defense is the
admission of the conduct giving rise to the
charged offense. Having acknowledged
presence at and participation in the event, the
participant in effect justifies the conduct on
grounds deemed by law to be sufficient to
render the participant exempt from criminal
responsibility for the consequences of the
conduct. The People are required to negate an
affirmative defense because such defense
raises factors justifying the defendant’s
conduct to a parity with the elements of the
offense. . . . The defense of alibi does not
require proof or disproof of factual issues
beyond those necessary to establish the
elements of the offense charged. . . . No
special instructions are necessary to inform
the jury of the People’s burden to prove that a
defendant alleged to have committed an
offense did commit that offense.
Compare People v. Marks, 2015 COA 173, ¶ 57 (“The same is true of
an alternate suspect defense.”), with People v. Grizzle, 140 P.3d
224, 226 (Colo. App. 2006) (“A defendant must admit to having
engaged in the proscribed conduct to be entitled to an entrapment
instruction.”).
9
¶ 20 By any fair reading of the record, defendant never admitted
the criminality of her conduct. Just the opposite — she attested to
her sobriety when the accident occurred.
¶ 21 Even so, the Huckleberry court went on to point out,
[a]lthough the General Assembly has expressly
recognized several affirmative defenses, the
defense of alibi has not been established by
statute. We reject Huckleberry’s argument
that the affirmative defense statute . . .
encompasses the defense of alibi even though
such defense is not specified by any statute.
768 P.2d at 1239 (footnote omitted). So, is Huckleberry controlling
here, where the statute says that “such issue shall be an affirmative
defense”? We conclude that it is, despite this difference.
¶ 22 Thus, we decline to treat the statutory mandate as trumping
the broader principle — explained in Huckleberry and reiterated in
Montoya — that an affirmative defense instruction need not be
given where the defense is only an element-negating traverse. As
the division in People v. Nelson, 2014 COA 165, ¶ 52, noted,
[w]e acknowledge that the General Assembly
has, paradoxically, characterized consent of
the victim as an “affirmative defense” if “the
consent negatives an element of the offense or
precludes the infliction of the harm or evil
sought to be prevented by the law defining the
offense.” § 18-1-505(1), C.R.S. 2014; see
10
People v. Bush, 948 P.2d 16, 19-20 (Colo. App.
1997) (Briggs, J., specially concurring) (opining
that where consent and mistake of fact merely
negate an element of the crime charged, they
are not truly affirmative defenses,
notwithstanding section 18-1-505). But even
were we to regard consent and mistake of fact
as affirmative defenses under the facts of this
case, it would not follow that defendant was
entitled to separate instructions on those
defenses. Where proof of the elements of the
charged offense necessarily requires disproof of
the issue raised by the affirmative defense, a
separate instruction on that defense need not
be given.
¶ 23 In sum, because we discern no error in the trial court’s failure
to instruct the jury sua sponte on the statutory affirmative defense,
we need not consider the other plain error factors. See People v.
Ortiz, 2016 COA 58, ¶ 23 (“Because the district court did not err, we
need not address the other elements of plain error analysis.”).
II. Jury Instruction No. 15 and the Court’s Answer to a Related
Jury Question Do Not Require Reversal
¶ 24 For the first time on appeal, defendant contends that Jury
Instruction No. 15 and the court’s response to a related jury
question reduced the prosecution’s burden. As a result, defendant
continues, the Attorney General’s position that by proving the
elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt, the prosecution
11
necessarily disproved the affirmative defense, (which we accepted in
the prior section of this opinion), is flawed. Although with
somewhat less clarity, defendant also contends that the instruction
created a constructive amendment or a simple variance that
prejudiced her. We reject the first contention and conclude that
invited error bars review of the second contention.
A. Additional Background
¶ 25 Instruction No. 15 explained that “the amount of alcohol in the
Defendant’s blood at the time of the commission of the offense, or
within a reasonable time thereafter, as shown by chemical analysis
of the Defendant’s blood or breath, gives rise to the following . . . .”
Then it set forth the various statutory presumptions.
¶ 26 During deliberations, the jury asked, as to the DUI verdict
form, “is this specific to the time of the collision, at or around 10:30
a.m., or at any time thereafter (on or around the time she was
stopped by the police at 10:58 a.m.)?” After discussion with
counsel, the court answered, “It can be either or both, but any
decision you make concerning the particular time must be
unanimous.”
12
B. Effect of Instruction No. 15 and the Answer to the Jury Question
on Failure Sua Sponte to Give the Statutory Affirmative Defense
Instruction
1. Preservation
¶ 27 Defense counsel did not object to Instruction No. 15 and
participated in the trial court’s formulating an answer to the jury
question. On these bases, the Attorney General asserts that
defendant invited any error. We resolve the invited error question
as to a constructive amendment or a simple variance in the next
section of this opinion.
¶ 28 But as for this section, invited error becomes “a convoluted
chicken-egg argument.” Widefield Water & Sanitation Dist. v. Witte,
2014 CO 81, ¶ 26. We have concluded that defendant did not invite
the alleged error in the trial court’s failure to give the statutory
affirmative defense instruction, but merely failed to request that
this instruction be given. So, if the affirmative defense instruction
was not even contemplated, much less argued, how could we apply
invited error to preclude defendant from now arguing that such an
instruction was necessary based on Instruction No. 15 and the
answer to the jury question?
13
¶ 29 We escape this dilemma by declining to apply invited error at
this level of the analysis because defendant does not argue that
Instruction No. 15 and the answer to the jury question incorrectly
stated the law. Thus, invited error does not prevent our
reconsidering whether the jury should have been instructed on the
statutory affirmative defense because Instruction No. 15 and the
court’s answer to the jury’s question could have reduced the
prosecution’s burden.
2. Law
¶ 30 “In any prosecution for DUI or DWAI, the defendant’s BAC or
drug content at the time of the commission of the alleged offense or
within a reasonable time thereafter gives rise to the following
presumptions or inferences.” § 42-4-1301(6)(a).
¶ 31 In Charnes v. Boom, 766 P.2d 665, 669 (Colo. 1988), the
supreme court explained, “the relevance of the results of a chemical
test in a criminal trial . . . is not limited to tests conducted within
one hour after the alleged offense. Instead, such test results may
be admissible and provide significant evidence if obtained within a
reasonable time after the alleged offense, even if that time exceeds
one hour.” More recently, in People v. Wehmas, 246 P.3d 642, 650
14
(Colo. 2010), the court noted that while a “delay in obtaining a BAC
will lead to a gradual loss of perhaps the strongest evidence of a
defendant’s BAC at the time of the offense because of the ongoing
metabolism of alcohol . . . expert testimony can be used to
otherwise analyze and extrapolate a person’s BAC to provide an
opinion as to the BAC at the time of the offense.”
¶ 32 Yet, neither the supreme court nor any division of this court
has looked at “a reasonable time after” driving through the lens of
whether allowing a jury to determine guilt based on such evidence
of the BAC unfairly reduces the prosecution’s burden. Defendant
cites no authority supporting this proposition, from Colorado or
elsewhere.
¶ 33 In People v. Emery, 812 P.2d 665, 667 (Colo. App. 1990),
however, the division explained, “the prosecution presented
evidence that approximately three hours after the accident,
defendant’s blood alcohol level was above the statutory percentage.
From that evidence, the jury could infer that defendant was under
the influence at the time of the offense.” The division concluded,
“defendant’s blood alcohol level was, within a reasonable time after
15
the accident, sufficient to permit an inference that he was under the
influence when the accident occurred.” Id. at 668.
3. Discussion
¶ 34 Defendant’s assertion that Instruction No. 15 encouraged the
jury to convict based on her intoxication “a reasonable time after,”
as opposed to at the time of the accident, runs head long into
Instruction No. 8, quoted above. Defendant does not challenge this
instruction. And it required the prosecution to prove that
defendant had been intoxicated when the accident occurred. In
contrast, Instruction No. 15 dealt with the inferences that could be
drawn from results of the BAC tests, not the elements of the
offense.
¶ 35 But the possibility that the answer to the jury question
undercut Instruction No. 8 and thereby reduced the prosecution’s
burden warrants a closer look. After all, based on the answer, the
jury could have convicted defendant by unanimously agreeing on
her intoxication as of 10:58 a.m., approximately one-half hour after
the collision. Still, for three reasons, this possibility does not
change our conclusion that the prosecution’s proof also disproved
the affirmative defense.
16
¶ 36 First, consistent with Charnes and Wehmas, the prosecution
presented expert testimony that based on the trending in
defendant’s BAC when her blood was drawn three separate times,
several hours after the collision, her BAC had been .274 at the time
of the accident. Defendant does not explain, nor can we discern,
how she could have been heavily intoxicated at 10:58 a.m. — if that
is the time on which the jury agreed — but not been intoxicated
when the collision occurred at 10:30 a.m. And the process whereby
the expert arrived at the .274 opinion precludes this conclusion.
¶ 37 Second, defendant also does not discuss how her testimony
that she consumed an alcoholic beverage around 10:45 a.m. — but
not before the collision — would neutralize the expert’s opinion that
her BAC had been .274 at the time of the accident. To the contrary,
the prosecution’s expert opined that “chugging” significant amounts
of an alcoholic beverage at 10:45 would not explain the results of
the three blood draws, given the time between them and the rate
the body metabolizes alcohol.
¶ 38 Third, to the extent that defendant implies 10:58 a.m. is more
than a reasonable time after 10:30 a.m., Emery holds otherwise.
17
And as for a jury’s ability to determine reasonableness, the word
“reasonable” appears in numerous Colorado criminal statutes.2
¶ 39 Given all this, the answer to the jury question does not lead us
to reconsider whether the prosecution disproved the statutory
affirmative defense.
C. Constructive Amendment and Simple Variance
¶ 40 The precise difference between this contention and defendant’s
affirmative defense contention is unclear. But defendant could be
understood as raising a separate argument based on a temporal
discrepancy between the charging document and the references to
“a reasonable time after” in Instruction No. 15, coupled with the
trial court’s response to the jury question. If so, invited error bars
review.
1. Preservation and Standard of Review
¶ 41 Defendant concedes that she did not raise this issue below,
but urges plain error review. The Attorney General responds that
2 See, e.g., § 18-9-305, C.R.S. 2016 (“if reasonable notice of the use
of such devices is given to the public”); § 18-12-108.7, C.R.S. 2016
(“fails to make reasonable efforts to prevent such violation”);
§ 18-1-705, C.R.S. 2016 (“using reasonable and appropriate
physical force upon another person”); § 18-18-420, C.R.S. 2016
(“would lead a reasonable person to believe that the substance is
the controlled substance that it is purported to be”).
18
defendant invited any error. We now address invited error because
it could obviate further analysis of a constructive amendment and a
simple variance.
¶ 42 During the instruction conference, defense counsel raised
Instruction No. 15. The prosecutor interjected that defense
counsel, “had suggested to me, and I think that I agree, that this
presumption instruction would apply to both vehicular homicide
and the DUI charges” instead of having separate instructions. After
defense counsel responded, “I’m good with that,” the court added
that the change would be made. As given to the jury, the
instruction referred to “any prosecution in which the defendant is
charged with Vehicular Homicide and/or Driving under the
Influence.” (Emphasis added.)
¶ 43 At the end of the conference, the court asked the prosecutor
about any objections and then asked defense counsel:
I’m going to ask you the same questions.
You’ve been given seventeen jury instructions
and nine forms of verdict. Do you have any
objections to those verdict forms and jury
instructions other than as was expressed in
chambers?
Both counsel answered “no.”
19
¶ 44 Turning to the jury question, the court, the prosecutor, and
defense counsel discussed how to answer it at length. The court
expressed concern over unanimity because “we can’t have six of
them deciding that it’s 10:30 and six of them deciding it’s 10:58 and
finding ‘you’re guilty.’” After the court posited possible unanimity
language, the following colloquy occurred:
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: I think we have to be a
little more careful in terms of the phraseology,
in terms of maybe following —
THE COURT: I wasn’t positing that. I’m open
to suggestion.
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: It can be either or
both, but for you — it can be either or both as
—
THE COURT: But any decision you make
must be unanimous.
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: As to the
particularized time.
Following further discussion, the court proposed to answer the
question, “It can be either or both, but any decision you make
concerning a particular time must be unanimous.” Then the court
separately asked the prosecutor and defense counsel if they agreed.
Both answered “yes.”
20
2. Law
¶ 45 The invited error doctrine rests on the principle that “a party
may not complain on appeal of an error that he has invited or
injected into the case; he must abide the consequences of his acts.”
People v. Zapata, 779 P.2d 1307, 1309 (Colo. 1989). This doctrine
“prevents a party from inducing an inappropriate or erroneous
[ruling] and then later seeking to profit from that error.” Horton v.
Suthers, 43 P.3d 611, 618 (Colo. 2002) (citation omitted).
¶ 46 “Invited error most often arises in holding a defendant
responsible for tendering or agreeing to a jury instruction later
challenged on appeal.” People v. Foster, 2013 COA 85, ¶ 26.
Similarly, as to answering a jury question, “[b]ecause defendant
acceded to the court’s response, he is precluded from raising this
issue on appeal.” People v. Phillips, 91 P.3d 476, 484 (Colo. App.
2004).
¶ 47 In jury instruction appeals, invited error analysis has
expanded from instructions tendered by the defense to affirmative
acquiescence. Compare People v. Gregor, 26 P.3d 530, 533 (Colo.
App. 2000) (“Thus, defendant’s affirmative proposal with respect to
one instruction and acquiescence in two others, which related
21
directly to the first instruction, led to invited error here.”), with
People v. Butler, 251 P.3d 519, 523 (Colo. App. 2010) (Invited error
does apply where “[t]he record shows that when the trial court
proposed amending the jury instruction defining when a police
officer acts under color of official authority by adding the phrase ‘or
search warrant executed,’ [and] defense counsel responded, ‘That’s
fine with me.’”). As the division explained in Foster, ¶ 36, “we read
[People v. Gross, 2012 CO 60M] to distinguish errors based on trial
counsel’s omission from those of commission in limiting appellate
review. While appellate courts may review the former for plain
error, the latter generally will be unreviewable.”
3. Application
¶ 48 Based on the extensive colloquy, in which defense counsel
actively participated, on both Instruction No. 15 and answering the
jury question, we conclude that error, if any, in either was invited.
¶ 49 Starting with the instruction, as in Gregor, Butler, and Foster,
defense counsel proposed a change and then affirmatively
acquiesced in the modified instruction. People v. Perez-Rodriguez,
2017 COA 77, does not suggest otherwise.
22
¶ 50 Granted, as in Perez-Rodriguez, here the trial court ultimately
grouped all seventeen instructions in asking whether defense
counsel had any objection. Still, counsel’s “no” answer must be
read in context of the earlier specific discussion of Instruction No.
15, which defendant now seeks to challenge. Because no similar
specific discussion occurred in Perez-Rodriguez, the division
concluded that “[i]t is not clear whether defense counsel’s blanket
statement indicating ‘no objection’ reflected deliberate agreement
with all the instructions or was an inadvertent failure to object to
the error defendant now claims.” Id. at ¶ 28.
¶ 51 As for the answer to the jury question, defense counsel’s
approval is even clearer than in Phillips. After the court proposed
“But any decision you make must be unanimous,” defense counsel
responded, “As to the particularized time.” And the answer
(“concerning a particular time”) addressed this concern.
¶ 52 In the end, we go no further because “[t]he doctrine of invited
error generally precludes appellate review of alleged errors that were
invited by a party’s affirmative conduct.” People v. Becker, 2014
COA 36, ¶ 20.
23
III. Conclusion
¶ 53 The judgment is affirmed.
JUDGE NAVARRO and JUDGE KAPELKE concur.
24