In Re STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS IN CRIMINAL CASES—REPORT NO. 2013-07

143 So. 3d 893, 2014 WL 3361905
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJuly 10, 2014
DocketSC13-2383
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 143 So. 3d 893 (In Re STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS IN CRIMINAL CASES—REPORT NO. 2013-07) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS IN CRIMINAL CASES—REPORT NO. 2013-07, 143 So. 3d 893, 2014 WL 3361905 (Fla. 2014).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases (Committee) has submitted proposed changes to the standard criminal jury instructions and asks that the Court authorize the amended standard instructions for publication and use. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.

The Committee’s proposed changes affect the following existing standard jury instructions: 1 2.7, Closing Argument; 3.6(k), Duress or Necessity; 21.1, Resisting Officer with Violence; 21.2, Resisting Officer Without Violence; 21.4, False Report of Commission of a Crime; 21.5, Giving False Information Concerning Commission of a Crime; 21.6, Giving False Information Concerning Commission of a Capital Felony; 22.5, Setting Up, Conducting, or Promoting a Lottery; 29.13, Aggravated Animal Cruelty; and 29.13(a), Animal Cruelty. The Committee also proposes two new instructions: 8.23, Extortion, and 25.15(a), Retail Sale of Drug Paraphernalia. Prior to filing its report with the Court, the Committee published its proposals in the November 1, 2013, edition of The Florida Bar News and received comments. After considering the comments it received, the Committee made some changes to its proposals before filing its report with the Court. Having considered the Committee’s report, we authorize the amended instructions for publication and use with certain changes or exceptions as indicated below.

The Committee proposes an amendment to the “Note to Judge” within Instruction 21.1, Resisting Officer with Violence, which currently provides: “A special instruction incorporating § 776.051(1), Fla. Stat. should be given when the defense claims the officer was acting unlawfully.” 2 The Committee proposes that the Note to *894 Judge be amended to restrict the note’s application to cases of resisting arrest. The Committee’s proposal would amend the note to read: “A special instruction incorporating § 776.051(1), Fla. Stat., should be given when the defendant was resisting an amst by a law enforcement officer and the defense claims the officer was acting unlawfully.” (The underlining indicates the proposed new language.) The Committee’s rationale is that “there are circumstances other than an arrest (such as resisting during a detention) where Instruction 21.1 applies, but Florida Statute 776.051(1) does not.” However, section 776.051(1) applies to resisting an officer as well as to resisting arrest. Therefore, we revise the Committee’s proposed amendment and amend the Note to Judge to read as follows: “A special instruction incorporating § 776.051(1), Fla. Stat., should be given when the defendant is charged with resisting an arrest by a law enforcement officer or with resisting a law enforcement officer and the defense claims the officer was acting unlawfully.”

In Instruction 22.5, Setting Up, Promoting, or Conducting a Lottery, the Committee proposes that the definition of “lottery” be amended. 3 The proposal would delete the phrase that follows the words “a lottery is” and define the term by reference to the three elements as follows: “A ‘lottery’ has three elements: (1) consideration — that is, a bet or thing ventured; (2) a prize; and (3) the award or winning of the prize by lot or chance.” In the proposal, this amended definition is followed by new definitions of the terms “bet,” “thing ventured,” and “prize by lot or chance.” We note that there are six other standard instructions for other lottery-related offenses proscribed by section 849.09, Florida Statutes (2013). See Fla. Std. Jury Instr. (Crim.) 22.6-22.il. 4 We are concerned that if we authorize for publication and use the Committee’s proposed revision of Instruction 22.5, the definition of “lottery” in Instruction 22.5 will be different from the definition of “lottery” that appears in the other six instructions. We therefore decline to authorize the proposed revision at this time and ask the Committee to study the matter further in connection with possible amendments to Instructions 22.6-22.11.

As stated above, we have revised the Committee’s proposal with respect to the “Note to Judge” section of Instruction 21.1, Resisting Officer with Violence. And we defer consideration of the Committee’s proposed amendment of the definition of *895 “lottery” in Instruction 22.5, Setting Up, Promoting or Conducting a Lottery, pending the Committee’s reconsideration, which we hereby request, of its proposal in connection with the standard instructions on other lottery-related offenses. With these exceptions, we authorize the proposed instructions for publication and use.

We authorize the amended instructions, as set forth in the appendix to this opinion, for publication and use. 5 New language is indicated by underlining, and deleted language is indicated by struck-through type. In authorizing the publication and use of these instructions, we express no opinion on their correctness and remind all interested parties that this authorization forecloses neither requesting additional or alternative instructions nor contesting the legal correctness of the instructions. We further caution all interested parties that any comments associated with the instructions reflect only the opinion of the Committee and are not necessarily indicative of the views of this Court as to their correctness or applicability. The instructions as set forth in the appendix shall be effective when this opinion becomes final.

It is so ordered.

LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, CANADY, POLSTON, and PERRY, JJ., concur.

APPENDIX

2.7 CLOSING ARGUMENT

§ 918.19, Fla. Stat.

Both the State and the defendant have now rested their case.

The attorneys now will present their final arguments. Please remember that what the attorneys say is not evidence or your instruction on the law. However, do listen closely to their arguments. They are intended to aid you in understanding the case. Each side will have equal time, but the State is entitled to divide this time between an opening argument and a rebuttal argument after the defendant defense has spokengiven its closing argument.

Comment

This instruction was approved in 1981 and amended in 2007 [SC07-325¡-Correct-ed-Opinion, August 30, 2007] [965 So.2d 811] and 2014.

3.6(k) DURESS OR NECESSITY

An issue in this case is whether (defendant) acted out of [duress] [necessity] in committing the crime of (crime charged) (lesser included offenses).

It is a defense to the (crime charged) (lesser included offenses) if the defendant acted out of [duress] [necessity]. In order to find the defendant committed the (crime charged) (lesser included offense) out of [duress] [necessity], you must find the following six elements:

1. The defendant reasonably believed [a danger] [an emergency] existed which was not intentionally caused by [himself] [herself].
2. a.

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Related

Donald Ray Kervin v. State of Florida
195 So. 3d 1181 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2016)
In Re STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS IN CRIMINAL CASES-REPORT NO. 2014-08
176 So. 3d 938 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2015)

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Bluebook (online)
143 So. 3d 893, 2014 WL 3361905, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-standard-jury-instructions-in-criminal-casesreport-no-2013-07-fla-2014.