Connecticut Judicial Branch Criminal Jury Instructions

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Connecticut Judicial Branch Criminal Jury Instructions

This collection of jury instructions was compiled by the Criminal Jury Instruction Committee and is intended as a guide for judges and attorneys in constructing charges and requests to charge. The use of these instructions is entirely discretionary and their publication by the Judicial Branch is not a guarantee of their legal sufficiency.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS Hon. John F. Blawie, Chairperson Hon. Tracy Dayton Hon. Kevin C. Doyle Hon. Nuala E. Droney Hon. Michael J. Gustafson Hon. Maureen M. Keegan Hon. Robin Pavia Hon. Chris Pelosi Hon. Brian Preleski Hon. Matthew A. Weiner

Prepared by Judge Support Services, Superior Court Operations ? 1999-2024 Connecticut Judicial Branch. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THESE INSTRUCTIONS

This collection of jury instructions was compiled by the Criminal Jury Instruction Committee and is intended as a guide for judges and attorneys in constructing charges and requests to charge and as a general reference to criminal offenses and their elements. The use of these instructions is entirely discretionary and their publication by the Judicial Branch is not a guarantee of their legal sufficiency. See State v. Gomes, 337 Conn. 826, 853 n.19 (2021).

The collection includes instructions for most of the Penal Code (a handful of minor offenses were not included), many of the offenses in Chapter 53, the most commonly occurring drug offenses from Chapter 21a and weapons offenses from Chapter 29, and the most commonly occurring motor vehicle offenses for which a jury trial is available from Chapter 14. It is organized into 10 parts: Preliminary Instructions, General Instructions, and 8 broad categories of crime. These categories do not necessarily correspond to the organization of the General Statutes. To find an instruction by the statute number, see the Index by Statute.

There is not necessarily a single instruction for each statute. If a statute provides discrete alternative ways of committing an offense, there are separate instructions. Similarly, multiple statutes defining similar offenses, most often different degrees of the same offense, have been combined into a single instruction when the only distinguishing factor is a single element.

Each instruction for an offense begins with the statutory definition of the crime. The statutory language has been altered for gender neutrality and the use of the term "victim" has been replaced with "decedent" or "complainant." The committee concluded that reading the section number of the Penal Code to jurors was unnecessary and could possibly encourage jurors to do their own legal research. Statutory references are provided in the heading, which is not part of the instruction.

Following the reading of the statute are the elements of the crime, each set off by a boldfaced heading. Any definitions relevant to the element are included. If the definition is derived from a statute or is a specialized definition derived from case law it can be found in the glossary, which provides the statutory citation and any commentary on the definition. Other definitions will have a footnote to its source. Otherwise, a word is given its ordinary meaning as found in the dictionary.

The conclusion of each instruction briefly recaps the elements and ends with a recitation of the jury's duty to find the defendant guilty or not guilty.

Commentary Footnotes appear in the body of the instruction to reference case law discussing specific

language. The commentary for an instruction discusses relevant appellate decisions as they relate to the content of the instruction or the elements of the crime. The commentary also, when possible, references case law discussing lesser included offenses. It is in no way a comprehensive analysis of what may or may not be a lesser included offense for a given offense.

For some groups of related crimes, the commentary has been combined into a single introductory section. See, e.g., 5.1 Introduction to Murder and Manslaughter and 6.1 Introduction to Assault.

Connecticut Criminal Jury Instructions

Revisions The revision date indicates the date the Criminal Jury Instructions Committee approved

the adoption or substantive revision of an instruction. When there has been a minor stylistic change or an update to the commentary, but the substantive body of the instruction remains the same, it will be indicated by a parenthetical date for modification. For example, "Revised to December 1, 2007 (modified June 15, 2008)" means that on June 15, 2008, the instruction or its commentary was modified in some minor way that did not affect the substance of the instruction.

Formatting Conventions

? Bold-faced titles and subheadings are included to make the instructions easier to read and are not part of the instruction.

? Angle brackets and italicized text are used to enclose directives to follow in customizing the charge. E.g., . Angle brackets are also used to refer to other instructions that may contain some additional useful information. E.g., .

? Parentheses are used to indicate that a choice between words or phrases is necessary. This is most commonly used for gender-specific pronouns, e.g., (he/she) or (his/her). It is also used when a statute offers several terms, not all of which may be applicable to the charged offense. If a statute has choices that are lengthy, such that stringing them together in a single parentheses would be cumbersome to read, they are separated into a bulleted list. For example,

a person is guilty of kidnapping in the first degree when (he/she) abducts another person and (his/her) intent is to compel a third person

? to pay or deliver money or property as ransom. ? to engage in particular conduct or to refrain from engaging in particular conduct.

?

Square brackets are used to indicate that a portion of the instruction is optional. It will be

preceded by an italicized directive defining the circumstances under which the language would

be appropriate, unless it is clear from the language itself. For example,

[ In this case, the defendant has testified as to (his/her) intent. You should consider my earlier instruction on evaluating the defendant's testimony as you would any other witness.]

Note that square brackets in commentary have their common meaning, i.e., the paraphrasing of small portions of quoted material.

Connecticut Criminal Jury Instructions

RECENT CHANGES

The following changes were approved by the Criminal Jury Instruction Committee on March 27, 2024:

New Instruction

8.2-20 Carrying a Firearm with Intent to Display -- ? 29-35 (a) (2)

Note that some of the instructions in section 8.2, Weapons, have been renumbered.

Revisions

4.1-14 Vendor Fraud -- ? 53a-290, ? 53a-291, ? 53a-292, ? 53a-293, ? 53a-294, ? 53a-295, and ? 53a-296 The instruction was revised to include subsection (6) of ? 53a-290.

5.4-1 Felony Murder -- ? 53a-54c A footnote was added clarifying that a defendant need not be charged separately with the predicate felony underlying a felony murder charge.

5.5-1 Capital Felony or Murder with Special Circumstances -- ? 53a-54b A reference to associated penalties was removed from the instruction, and a typographical error in a heading was corrected.

6.4-3 Robbery in the Third Degree -- ? 53a-133 and ? 53a-136 A footnote has been added re State v. Brown, 345 Conn. 354 (2022), holding that trial courts instructing on the larceny element of robbery should include the statutory definitions applicable to larceny.

6.7-2 Stalking in the Second Degree -- ? 53a-181d (b) (1) 6.7-5 Harassment in the Second Degree (Written Communication) -- ? 53a-183 (a) (1) 6.7-7 Harassment in the Second Degree (Posting to Online Meeting Space) -- ? 53a-183 (a) (3) Commentary has been added to each instruction re State v. Billings, 217 Conn. App. 1, cert. denied, 346 Conn. 907 (2023), reversing second degree stalking and second degree harassment convictions based solely on the defendant's social media postings that were comprised of constitutionally protected speech.

7.1-11 Sexual Assault in the Fourth Degree -- ? 53a-73a (a) (3) The instruction was revised to include a new statutory definition of "sexual contact" applicable to the subdivision concerning sexual assault of a dead human body.

7.7-1 Employing a Minor in an Obscene Performance -- ? 53a-196a A footnote has been added re State v. Michael R., 346 Conn. 432 (2023), holding

Connecticut Criminal Jury Instructions

that the statutory definition of "nude performance" does not require that the minor be engaged in sexual conduct or activity.

8.4-2 Breach of Peace in the Second Degree -- ? 53a-181 (a) (1) A footnote has been added re State v. Rivera, 200 Conn. App. 401 (2020), elaborating on the statutory meaning of "public place" as used in this offense.

9.1 Introduction to Larceny and Other Thefts The introduction has been updated to reflect recent statutory amendments concerning the larceny of motor vehicles and other specialized forms of larceny.

9.1-1 Larceny -- ? 53a-119 and ?? 53a-122 through 53a-125b A footnote has been added noting the dictionary definitions of "withhold" that the Supreme Court consulted when applying that term in State v. Brown, supra, 345 Conn. 381.

9.2-1 Burglary in the First Degree -- ? 53a-101 (a) (1) and (2) 9.2-2 Burglary in the First Degree -- ? 53a-101 (a) (3) 9.2-3 Burglary in the Second Degree -- ? 53a-102 9.2-4 Burglary in the Third Degree -- ? 53a-103 A footnote to each instruction has been updated with the holding of State v. Kyle A., 348 Conn. 437 (2024), that a trial court's failure to instruct on the elements of the crime(s) that a defendant is alleged to have intended to commit within a building may constitute reversible error.

The following changes were approved by the Criminal Jury Instruction Committee on January 31, 2024:

New Instructions

2.2-7 Fighting Words A new stand-alone instruction has been approved. Additionally, links to this instruction have been added to instructions for substantive offenses for which a defendant potentially may be charged solely on the basis of his/her speech, and preexisting language on fighting words has been removed from those instructions.

2.2-8 True Threats A new stand-alone instruction has been approved. Additionally, links to this instruction have been added to instructions for substantive offenses for which a defendant potentially may be charged solely on the basis of his/her speech, and preexisting language on true threats has been removed from those instructions.

7.1-15 Sexual Assault of an Animal -- ? 53a-73b A stand-alone instruction, based on the new statutory offense, has been approved, while the portion of the charge addressing similar behavior has been removed from Instruction 7.1-11 Sexual Assault in the Fourth Degree -- ? 53a-73a (a) (1) and (a) (3) through (a) (9) (see below).

Connecticut Criminal Jury Instructions

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