Attorneys will propose instructions to the judge at the end of trial, often seeking specific phrasing that is advantageous to their client. However, the judge makes the final decision about content and phrasing. An attorney who opposes the jury instruction as being irrelevant, incorrect, or misleading must be careful to properly preserve their objection for appeal. A judge who notices a flaw in the jury instructions after they are issued must immediately correct the instructions sua sponte.
Without jury instructions, the jury would not know the elements of a DUI or Robbery charge. Juries would find it difficult to render a lawful verdict if they were not provided with jury instructions. Second, they are important for record-keeping matters on appeal. That is why jury instructions are typed and printed and placed in the court file. The two sides agreed to the instructions for a reason, right?
Imagine the panic if a defendant charged with murder went to trial and the jury instructions all related to the misdemeanor charge of battery. It can be very important to get the charge right. Just like claims and burdens the victim must prove, each defense also will have jury instructions. The instructions will remind the jury that although a victim must prove the elements of a case, a defendant must prove any defenses that it has to the case.
Damages have their own jury instructions. The jury will be told that they must find that damages were proven sufficiently by the victim. Mortality tables can be given, in order to calculate damages that may last a lifetime. Statutes that provide special damages, or limit certain damages, such as survivor actions or wrongful death, also have their own specific instructions. There are model jury instructions , which set out the language to be used in the more common situations such as the ones named above.
These standard instructions are proposed by a standing committee that recommends them to the Florida Supreme Court for adoption. The model instructions mean that in many instructions do not have to be drafted from scratch.
Every case is different, and many times, the attorneys will have to submit to the court the jury instructions they propose that the Court use. Of course, each side will submit language that may be more in their own favor than the other side.
Although jury instructions are generally statements of the law to be applied, they cannot be written in legalese. Language must be drafted that a normal person outside of the legal community can understand.
I am currently working on a federal criminal appeal that will go to the lovely building a few blocks away that houses the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit here in downtown Atlanta.
Working on this appeal caused me to think back about how I learned of the importance of jury instructions in a federal criminal case. A federal judicial clerkship is a great job, you work for the Judge, and help him or her with research, writing opinions and anything else the the Judge wants you to do.
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