New Criminal Jury Instructions Released

The Wisconsin Criminal Jury Instructions have recently been updated, with a 2021 release approved by the Wisconsin Judicial Conference's Criminal Jury Instructions Committee. The fifty-ninth supplement to the Criminal Jury Instructions updates the publication on legislative actions and judicial decisions through August 2021.

The update includes revisions of twenty-nine existing jury instructions, as well as five new instructions. New to the set are:

• 1243 Battery to a Nurse
• 1784 Inmate Possessing an Article With Intent to Retain
• 1787 Receiving an Article From an Inmate to Convey Out of Jail or Prison
• 1808A Bribery of Witness: Transferring Property
• 1808B Bribery of Witness: Accepting a Bribe

The following instructions have been updated:

• Introduction
• 141 Where Identification of Defendant is in Issue
• 180 Statements of Defendant
• 235 Refusal of Defendant to Furnish Sample for Alcohol Test
• 268 Law Note: Jurisdiction
• 1014 First Degree Intentional Homicide: Self-defense: Second Degree Intentional Homicide
• 1187 Homicide by Operation of a Vehicle with a Detectable Amount of a Restricted Controlled Substance - § 940.09(1)(am)
• 1266 Injury (Great Bodily Harm) by Operation of a Vehicle with a Detectable Amount of a Restricted Controlled Substance - § 940.25(1)(am)
• 1272 Neglect of Patients and Residents
• 1284 Stalking
• 1284B Stalking
• 1321 Endangering Safety by Use of a Dangerous Weapon: Operating or Going Armed with a Firearm While Under the Influence of an Intoxicant
• 1343 Possession of a Firearm
• 1537 Sexual Gratification in Public
• 1785 Delivering an Article to an Inmate
• 1786 Possessing an Article with Intent to Deliver it to an Inmate
• 2198 Failure to Comply with Sex Offender Registration Requirements
• 2502 Commitment as a Sexually Violent Person Under Chapter 980, Wis. Stats.
• 2506 Discharge of a Sexually Violent Person Under Chapter 980, Wis. Stats.
• 2664B Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Detectable Amount of a Restricted Controlled Substance
• 2682B Failing to Install an Ignition Interlock Device
• 6030 Possession of a Controlled Substance
• 6031 Attempted Possession of a Controlled Substance
• 6050 Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
• 6070 Use or Possession of a Masking Agent
• SM-32 Accepting a Plea of Guilty
• SM-32A No Contest and Alford Pleas
• SM-34A Determining Sentence Credit Under Section 973.155
• SM-50 Competency to Proceed

Earlier this year the Library partnered with the Office of Judicial Education to debut free access to the Wisconsin Jury Instructions on our website. While updated instructions can be downloaded at any time from our website, many readers may wish to keep their print sets up-to-date. Updating an existing set of print instructions works just as it has in prior years.

Download and print the fifty-ninth release. Blank pages have been inserted to make double sided printing easier. File new and updated instructions, along with the updated statutory comparative table and index in your print set. A complete, printable file of all the current Criminal Jury Instructions and finding aids is also available for those who need to print a complete set.

For information on the status of the Committee's work, please contact Bryce Pierson at bryce.pierson@wicourts.gov.