What does ”and/or” mean to a jury deliberating criminal charges in a multi-count indictment? Does it mean “and”? Does it mean “or”? Does it really matter?
Well, Judge Fisher, P.J.A.D., recently found that it does matter to a defendant sentenced to 19 years in prison, and, because the trial judge used this “mongrel expression” approximately 20 times in its jury instructions, it caused sufficient ambiguity that it required a reversal of all 10 charges of which the defendant was found guilty. State v. Gonzalez, No. A-0768-13T2, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2016).
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