In a precedential decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that an attorney’s failure to object to an “inapt” jury instruction on the meaning of reasonable doubt did not prejudice a murder defendant’s case.

A three-judge appellate panel in defendant Armel Baxter’s habeas corpus petition affirmed the district court’s ruling that Baxter, who was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, was not prejudiced by his counsel’s error.