Sixth Circuit Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions
   
 

The Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions of the District Judges Association of the Sixth Circuit produced this edition of jury instructions for use in criminal cases.

To view a section select the corresponding link to the right. Each section can be downloaded individually in a variety of file formats from within the link. The full version in "PDF" can be downloaded here.

NOTE: The Committee has not drafted pattern civil jury instructions.
 

2009 UPDATES

 
Changes made on October 1, 2009 include three changes to the text of an instruction:

6.07 Justification – In paragraph (2)(A), the words “present” and “impending” were added to the word “imminent” in describing the threat the defendant must face. This addition more accurately reflects the case law.

7.03A Witness Testifying to Both Facts and Opinions – This instruction is new. It is a cautionary instruction that may be given when a witness testifies both as a fact witness and as an opinion witness so that the jury can give proper weight to each type of testimony and the court can guard against the inherent risk of confusion when a witness testifies in both roles.

7.13 Other Acts of Defendant – In paragraph (1), the purposes for which the evidence may be admitted have been moved from a single bracket to individual separate brackets to facilitate listing only those purposes actually raised in the case. In addition, numerous changes were made to the commentaries to include recent authority.

The Committee also made some conforming and technical changes.