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The whole collection has been renumbered because the
2001 collection was reorganized, many of the
existing instructions were either split into multiple instructions
or combined into a single instruction, and many new instructions
were added. The numbering system was chosen to be flexible and
allow for additions.
The general goal
is to provide neutral and accurate statements of the law in a
format that would be easy to read and apply to specific cases. Although the primary resource for the content of these instructions
is the statutory language and Connecticut case law, when there has
not been appellate court interpretation of the statute, this
committee, as had its predecessor committees, relied on both
Wright’s Jury Instructions (2nd Ed. 1975) and New
York Criminal Jury Instructions.
Individual Offense Instructions
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 bold-faced 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 is hyperlinked to a
glossary that 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.
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.
When a revision or
modification is made, it will be announced on the opening screen and
a chronological listing of all changes will be accessible under
Recent Changes.
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