Jury Instructions—Adequacy of Instructions

The standard of review of jury instructions in criminal cases is whether the instructions, as a whole, fully and fairly instruct the jury on the law applicable to the case.   State v. Dunfee, 2005 MT 147, ¶ 20, 327 Mont. 335, 114 P.3d 217.

The party assigning error to a district court's instruction must show prejudice in order to prevail.  Murphy Homes, Inc. v. Muller, 2007 MT 140, ¶ 74, 337 Mont. 411, 162 P.3d 106.

The error must be "so significant as to affect the substantial rights of the party asserting error," and any error that does not affect substantial rights must be disregarded.  Clark v. Bell, 2009 MT 390, ¶ 18, 353 Mont. 331, 220 P.3d 650.