Proposed Jury Instruction for
Giving False Information
to WV State Police Officer
NOTICE TO COUNSEL AND JUDGES: As provided in the Court's Order accepting the proposed jury instructions for a period of working review, the Court's provisional approval "is for the purpose of refining and testing the application and accuracy of the pattern instructions and does not ensure error-free trials, and their use does not carry a no-reversal guarantee. It is not intended that this provisional acceptance is a final approval of the content of any instruction and each judge may use or refuse any instruction as he or she sees fit[,]" according to law. (emphasis added).
GIVING FALSE INFORMATION TO WV STATE POLICE OFFICER
_____________ INSTRUCTION NO. ____
The offense charged in Count _____ of the Indictment in this case is Giving False
Information To West Virginia State Police Officer. One of two verdicts may be returned by
you under this Count of the Indictment. They are: (1) guilty; and (2) not guilty.
Giving False Information To West Virginia State Police Officer is committed when
any person knowingly gives false or misleading information to an officer or member of the
West Virginia State Police while that officer or member was on duty.
The burden is on the State to prove the guilt of the Defendant beyond a reasonable
doubt and the Defendant, ______________________________ is not required to prove
himself innocent. He is presumed by the law to be innocent of this charge and this
presumption remains with him throughout the entire trial.
Before the Defendant, ______________________________ can be convicted of
Giving False Information To West Virginia State Police Officer, the State of West Virginia
must overcome the presumption that the Defendant, ______________________________
is innocent and prove to the satisfaction of the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that:
1.
The Defendant, ______________________________,
2.
in _______________ County, West Virginia,
3.
on or about the _____ day of _______________, 2____,
4.
Did knowingly give (false) (misleading) information, to-wit:
_____________________________
5.
To _______________________, an officer or member of the West Virginia State
Police who was at that time on duty.
If after impartially considering, weighing and comparing all the evidence, (both that
of the State and that of the Defendant) the jury and each member of the jury is convinced
beyond a reasonable doubt of the truth of the charge as to each of these elements of
Giving False Information To West Virginia State Police Officer, you may find
______________________________ guilty of Giving False Information To West Virginia
State Police Officer as charged in Count _____ of the indictment. If the jury and each
member of the jury has a reasonable doubt of the truth of the charge as to any one or more
of these elements of Giving False Information To West Virginia State Police Officer, you
shall find the Defendant ______________________________ not guilty.
COMMENT
GIVING FALSE INFORMATION TO WV STATE POLICE OFFICER
1.
W.Va. Code §15-2-16