Criminal Jury Instructions

Recent Changes
The revision date of each instruction 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. E.g., “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.

June 12, 2009
The following changes were approved by the Criminal Jury Instruction Committee on June 12, 2009:

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New Instruction

2.2-5 Self-Represented Defendant

Revised Instructions

1.2-10 Your Conduct as Jurors - Revised to add more warnings about using new technologies for research and communication, like Twitter and Google Earth.
1.2-11 Note-Taking - Removed the limitation of note-taking to the evidence portion of the trial only. The committee felt that this is not required by the Practice Book and whether to allow note-taking at other times is within the discretion of the judge.
2.8-1 Self-Defense and Defense of Others - Amended the three opening paragraphs and the concluding section to remove references to lesser included offenses. Instructing the jury on the process of considering defenses in conjunction with lesser included offenses is independent of the instruction on self-defense.
2.12-1 Persistent Offenders and 2.12.-2 Subsequent Offenders - Removed the sentence concerning the sufficiency of a certified copy as evidence of a conviction. Changed the conclusion from a finding of guilty to the use of an interrogatory and included a sample interrogatory.
5.3-1 Manslaughter in the Second Degree with a Motor Vehicle and 6.1-12 Assault in the Second Degree with a Motor Vehicle - Because the statutes defining these offenses are parallel, the instructions have been revised to make the elements parallel.
6.2-1 Threatening in the First Degree (Intentional), 6.2-2 Threatening in the First Degree (Reckless), 6.2-3 Threatening in the Second Degree and 8.4-4 Breach of the Peace in the Second Degree - Replaced the definition of “threaten” to incorporate an explanation of a “true threat.”
6.5-2 Kidnapping in the First Degree and 6.5-3 Kidnapping in the Second Degree - Upon reconsideration, the committee decided that Kidnapping in the Second Degree, which simply reads “A person is guilty of kidnapping in the second degree when he abducts another person,” is better presented as a single element offense. This facilitates the incorporation of it into Kidnapping in the First Degree and the inclusion of language comparing the intent to abduct with the intent to commit another crime.
6.7-2 Stalking in the Second Degree and 6.7-3 Stalking in the Third Degree - Added a definition for “lying in wait.”
6.10-3 Intimidation Based on Bigotry or Bias in the Third Degree - Added the definition of “reasonable cause” from Instruction 6.10-2.

November 1, 2008
Commentary has been updated with case law through November 1, 2008. In addition, the following substantive changes have been made:

New Instructions

2.6-12 Medical Treatment Evidence. See State v. Marcial S., 104 Conn. App. 361, 364-67 (2007).
2.6-13 Other Misconduct – Criminal Sexual Behavior. See State v. DeJesus, 288 Conn. 418, 474 n.36 (2008), and State v. Snelgrove, 288 Conn. 742 (2008).

Kidnapping and Unlawful Restraint
Introduction to Kidnapping and Unlawful Restraint. This introductory section was revised in light of State v. Salamon, 287 Conn. 509 (2008), State v. Sanseverino, 287 Conn. 608 (2008), and State v. DeJesus, 288 Conn. 418 (2008).

6.5-3 Kidnapping in the Second Degree -- § 53a-94. This instruction was revised in light of the above cited cases.
6.5-5 Unlawful Restraint in the First Degree -- § 53a-95 and
6.5-6 Unlawful Restraint in the Second Degree -- § 53a-96. These instructions were modified to be consistent with the changes made in 6.5-3 in their definitions of restraint and consent.

Sexual Assault in the 3^rd and 4^th Degrees

These three instructions were revised to make them consistent with one another in their definition of “sexual conduct” and intent. Some of the revisions were the result of rethinking the changes made in June 2008, which had distinguished the intent of subsection (a) (1) of § 53a-73a from that of subsections (a) (2) through (a) (8) because of the placement of “intentionally” in the statute. The committee is now convinced that all subsections of sexual assault that are premised on “sexual contact” are specific intent crimes. See State v. Faria, 254 Conn. 613, 636 n.24 (2000).

Burglary
A statement was added to all the burglary instructions directing the court to not only identify the crime that the defendant allegedly intended to commit but to also outline the elements of the crime.

Miscellaneous changes

2.4-2 Credibility. The concluding paragraph was modified in response to State v. Ouellette, 110 Conn. App. 401, 415 (2008).
2.4-3 Impeachment – Inconsistent Statements. An additional paragraph was added to address omissions as inconsistent statements. See State v. Simpson, 286 Conn. 634, 649 (2008).
3.1-1 Accessories and Accomplices -- § 53a-8 (a). The definition of “solicit” was corrected.
6.4-2 Robbery in the Second Degree -- § 53a-135. Definitions for deadly weapon and dangerous instrument had been inadvertently left out.

August 2008
The following changes were made to align the instructions with changes made to the statutes during the 2008 session of the General Assembly:

The phrase “or quasi-public agency” was added to the definition of “public servant” by Public Acts 2008, No. 08--3, § 7, effective October 1, 2008. It occurs in the following instructions:

“Department of Motor Vehicles inspector” was added to General Statutes 53a-167a, 53a-167b, and 53a-167c, by Public Acts 2008, No. 08-150, §§ 52, 53, 54, effective October 1, 2008. Changes were made to the following instructions to accommodate this addition:

General Statutes § 38a-287, Defrauding Life or Accident Insurance Companies, was amended by public Acts 2008, No. 08-178, § 12, to raise from $100 to $2,000 the amount that triggers an enhanced penalty effective October 1, 2008. The commentary to Instruction # 10.6-1 was modified accordingly.

June 13, 2008
New Instructions
The following new instructions were approved by the committee:

Revised Instructions
The following instructions were revised:

2.7-3 Duress -- § 53a-14. This instruction was completely revised in light of State v. Heinemann, 282 Conn. 281 (2007).
7.1-7 Sexual Assault 2nd -- § 53a-71. Public Acts 2007, No. 07-143, § 1, amended § 53a-71 (a) (1) to require that the actor be 3 years older, rather than 2 years older, than the victim.
7.1-11 Sexual Assault 4th -- § 53a-73a. This instruction was divided into two instructions (7.1-11 and 7.1-12) to distinguish the specific intent required by subsection (a) (1) and the general intent of subsections (a) (2) through (a) (8). Public Acts 2007, No. 07-143, § 2, amended subsection (a) (1) (A) to require that the actor be 2 years older than the victim and the victim be under thirteen rather than fifteen, and added subsection (a) (1) (B), providing that the victim be thirteen or older but under fifteen years old and the actor more than 3 years older. Existing subsections (a) (1) (B) through (E) were changed to (a) (1) (C) through (F).
7.2-1 Constancy of Accusation. A sentence was added limiting the jury’s application of constancy of accusation evidence to charges of sexual assault as recommended by State v. Farmer, 108 Conn. App. 82 (2008).
8.2-16 Carrying Dangerous Weapons -- § 53-206. Added optional language regarding the “true threat” doctrine as discussed in State v. Cook, 287 Conn. 237, 252 (2008).
8.9-6 Noncompliance with DNA Sampling -- § 54-102g (g) and 8.9-7 Noncompliance with Venereal Disease or HIV Exam -- § 54-102a (c). In light of the Supreme Court’s analysis in State v. T.R.D., 286 Conn. 191, 223-24 (2008), finding that Failure to Register as a Sex Offender (new instruction 7.8-1) is a strict liability crime, these instructions were revised to delete any requirement of knowledge or wilfullness.
9.2-2 Burglary in the First Degree -- § 53a-101 (a) (3). Public Acts, Jan. Spec. Sess., 2008, No. 08-1, §§ 2 and 3, moved § 53a-102 (a) (1) to § 53a-101 (a) (3), making a burglary to a dwelling at night first degree rather than second degree burglary.

Other Modifications
In addition, the commentaries for all instructions for statutes that provide for an enhanced sentence either for additional factual issues (e.g., the age of the victim) or for prior convictions have been modified to include the statutory reference and a link to either Sentence Enhancers, Instruction 2.11-4, or Subsequent Offenders, Instruction 2.12-2.

All commentaries have been updated with recent case law.

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