July 7, 2014: In light of State v. Bolaski, 2014 VT 36, a new instruction has been added for use in homicide cases where there is prima facie evidence of extenuating circumstances. It can be found on the homicide page, along with updated Reporter’s Notes summarizing the committee’s reaction to Bolaski.
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Welcome to the Vermont Model Criminal Jury Instructions. The instructions are sponsored by the Vermont Bar Association.
Use the drop-down menus above or the search function below to find individual instructions and the accompanying reporter's notes.
In addition, clicking on the menu headers above will show a table of contents for that section, and there is also a master table of contents available. Long-time users of the instructions will find the master table of contents to be in the familiar format.
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You may search for an instruction by using the name of the crime (e.g., kidnapping) or by using the statutory citation (e.g., 13 V.S.A. 2405 or, more simply, 2405). Note that the search software is simply reading the text on each page, and thus doesn't recognize "VSA" without the periods.