patterncriminaljuryinstructions.docVIP

PATTERN CRIMINAL JURY INSTRUCTIONS OF THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT (2012 Ed.) _____________________________ Prepared by The Committee on Federal Criminal Jury Instructions of the Seventh CircuitINTRODUCTION To: Judges and Criminal Law Practitioners of the District Courts of the Seventh Circuit From: The Committee on Federal Criminal Jury Instructions of the Seventh Circuit The Committee on Federal Criminal Jury Instructions of the Seventh Circuit is pleased to present the 2012 edition of this Circuit’s Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions, to be used in connection with criminal trials in the District Courts in the Seventh Circuit. These instructions and their accompanying commentary have been approved in principle by the Seventh Circuit Judicial Council. That means that, although they have not been approved for use in any specific case, the Council has authorized the publication of these Pattern Instructions as an aid to judges and lawyers practicing criminal law in those courts. The instructions are presented in three sections. The initial section, entitled “General Instructions,” includes instructions generally applicable to the trial process, as well as instructions addressing common legal theories of liability and certain defense theories (including affirmative defenses). The second and much larger section, entitled “Statutory Instructions,” contains instructions tied to specific statutory provisions located in Title 18 and in other parts of the United States Code. This section is organized in order of statutory cite. Finally, the Committee has drafted a set of pattern preliminary instructions to be used at the outset of a criminal trial. In drafting these instructions the Committee tried to continue the work of prior committees in reducing the use of legalisms, in order to produce instructions that will be as understandable as possible to lay jurors. The changes we have made in this respect reflect the experiences of the Committee’s members, comments we received an