Harmless Error in the United States
A mistake made during a criminal trial that is not serious enough to affect the outcome. Harmless error is a defect in proceeding that is regarded as formal or academic in character. The error, however, is regarded as nonprejudicial to the rights of the defendant. Error that is so limited is not a ground for vacating or modifying a judgment. Harmless error is the opposite of reversible error, which does require the reversal or vacating of a conviction. The harmless error concept is an analytic device used by appellate courts as they review actions of lower courts. The “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard applies in making such review. That is, the reviewing court must conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the mistake was harmless.
See Also
Appeal (Judicial Effects and Policies) Reversal (Judicial Effects and Policies) Reversible Error (Judicial Effects and Policies).
Analysis and Relevance
The harmless error doctrine is based on the premise that criminal trials are designed to adjudicate guilt. There will be occasions when that function is fulfilled even though a technical mistake was made. The harmless error approach focuses on the underlying fairness of the trial rather than the presence of minimal or immaterial error. As a rule, if an error occurs in a criminal trial, a conviction will be set aside. The harmless error analysis does not take place when a fundamental search or self-incrimination issue exists. In those situations where it applies, however, it is possible to preserve a conviction even in the presence of error. A helpful illustration can be found in the case of Rose v. Clark (478 U.S. 570: 1986). Clark was charged with both first- and second-degree murder. Under Tennessee law, the state had to prove malice but not premeditation to obtain a conviction for second-degree murder. The judge instructed the jury that malice was presumed in all murders in the absence of evidence to the contrary. Clark appealed his conviction arguing that the instruction erroneously shifted burden of proof to him on the malice question. Clark eventually prevailed with this argument. At the same time, the Supreme Court ruled that a jury instruction that so alters the burden of proof basically interferes with a fair trial and could never be considered harmless. Thus, this kind of case is subject to harmless error analysis. Accordingly, if the reviewing court was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the erroneous instruction was harmless with re-spect to the outcome, the conviction could be upheld.
Notes and References
- Definition of Harmless Error from the American Law Dictionary, 1991, California
Harmless Error in the United States
Harmless Error
United States Constitution
According to the Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, about its article titled 647 HARMLESS ERRORNot all denials of a defendant’s federal constitutional rights compel reversal of a conviction. The Supreme Court announced in Chapman v. California (1967) as a matter of federal constitutional law that, in criminal proceedings, if the beneficiary of the error can prove beyond a
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Harmless Error
United States Constitution
According to the Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, about its article titled 521 HARMLESS ERROR When an appellate court finds that a criminal defendant’s constitutional rights were violated at trial, it must then decide whether to reverse the defendant’s conviction. In a case where the appellate court has little reason to believe that the constitutional error
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Meaning of Harmless Error
In plain or simple terms, Harmless Error means: An error committed by a lower court during a trial, but determined by an appellate court not to be prejudicial to the rights of the party affected, and therefore furnishing no basis for reversal of the lower court’s judgment.