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Showing posts with label criminal jury instructions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label criminal jury instructions. Show all posts

March 31, 2025

New Jury Instructions Released

March brings updates to all three of the sets of Wisconsin jury instructions. The Wisconsin Jury Instructions are created and edited by the Wisconsin Jury Instructions Committees of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference.

These releases include:

Children’s Jury Instruction updates with one new instruction, and eight revised instructions. This set was last updated in July 2024.

Civil Jury Instruction updates with two new instructions, a renumbered and revised instruction, and sixteen revised instructions. This set was last updated in July 2024.

Criminal Jury Instruction updates with one new instruction, a renumbered and revised instruction, and 15 revised instructions. This set was last updated in December 2024.

The printable releases for each set of instructions can be downloaded at any time from the “Update releases” pages for each set.

Blank pages have been inserted to make double sided printing easier. File new, updated, and revised instructions, along with the updated table and index in your print set. Complete printable files of each instruction set and finding aids are also available for those who need to print a complete set. Download them at https://wilawlibrary.gov/jury/

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

September 23, 2024

New Criminal Jury Instructions Released

The September 2024 release of the Criminal jury instructions are now available at: https://wilawlibrary.gov/jury/criminal/ The Wisconsin Jury Instructions are created and edited by the Wisconsin Jury Instructions Committees of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference.

Instructions may be released more frequently throughout the year, and will continue to follow the same release numbering and month/year date patterns for easy version tracking. The Criminal instructions feature new and updated instructions for September 2024. This set was last updated in July 2024. Updates include:

  • JI-700 Law Note: Theory of Defense Instructions Instructing the Jury on Defensive Matters
  • JI-775 Alibi
  • JI-1319 Interference with Fire Fighting Equipment 941.12(2)
  • JI-1398B Publishing a Depiction That Is Known to Be a Private Representation of Nudity Without Consent - 942.09(3m)(a)2
  • JI-2125 Causing a Child to View or Listen to Sexual Activity - 948.055
  • NEW JI-2139B Sexual Misconduct Against a Pupil by a School Staff Member or Volunteer - 948.098
  • JI-2682B Failing to Install an Ignition Interlock Device or Violating a Court Order Restricting Operating Privilege - 347.413
  • JI-6030 Possession of a Controlled Substance - 961.41(3g)

The printable release for this set can be downloaded at any time from the “Update releases” page. Blank pages have been inserted to make double sided printing easier. File new, updated, and revised instructions, along with the updated tables and index in your print set. Complete printable files of each instruction set and finding aids are also available for those who need to print a complete set. Download them at https://wilawlibrary.gov/jury/

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

January 26, 2024

New jury instruction releases for January 2024

The January 2024 releases of the Children’s, Civil, and Criminal jury instructions are now available at https://wilawlibrary.gov/jury/. The Wisconsin Jury Instructions are created and edited by the Wisconsin Jury Instructions Committees of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference.

The Children’s instructions feature new and updated instructions for 2024. This set was last updated in January 2023.

The Civil instructions feature new and updated instructions for January 2024. This set was last updated in July 2023.

The Criminal instructions feature new and updated instructions, as well as two renumbered instructions, for January 2024. This set was last updated in July 2023.

The printable releases can be downloaded at any time from the “Update releases” page for each set. https://wilawlibrary.gov/jury/

Blank pages have been inserted to make double sided printing easier. File new, updated, and revised instructions, along with the updated tables and index in your print set. Complete printable files of each instruction set and finding aids are also available for those who need to print a complete set. Download them at https://wilawlibrary.gov/jury

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

July 14, 2023

New Civil and Criminal Jury Instructions July 2023

The July 2023 release of the Civil and Criminal jury instructions are now available at https://wilawlibrary.gov/jury

Civil jury instruction updates include the following instructions. Download release 55 to update your print sets. 

  • NEW 430 A party's presence not required at trial
  • 1090 Driver on Arterial Approaching Intersection: Lookout; Right of Way; Flashing Yellow Signal
  • 1153 Right of Way: At Intersection with Through Highway
  • 1155 Right of Way: At Intersections of Highways
  • 1157 Right of Way: At Intersection of Highways: Ultimate Verdict Question
  • 1158 Right of Way: To Pedestrian Crossing at Controlled Intersection 
  • 1160 Right of Way: To Pedestrian at Intersections or Crosswalks on Divided Highways or Highways Provided with Safety Zones 
  • 1165 Right of Way: To Pedestrian at Uncontrolled Intersection or Crosswalk
  • 1190 Right of Way: Green Signal
  • 1191 Duty of Driver Entering Intersection with Green Light in Driver's Favor: Lookout 
  • 1192 Duty of Driver Approaching Intersection When Amber Light Shows
  • 1195 Right of Way: Left Turn at Intersection
  • 1225 Right of Way: Pedestrian's Duty: Crossing at Controlled Intersection or Crosswalk
  • 1354 Turn or Movement: Ascertainment that Turn or Movement Can Be Made with Reasonable Safety: Lookout
  • 3028 Contracts Implied in Law (Unjust Enrichment) 
  • 8060 Adverse Possession Not Founded on Written Instrument (Wis. Stat. § 893.25) 

Criminal jury instruction updates include the following instructions. Download release 62 to update your print sets. 

  • NEW 791 Coercion: Trafficking: Defense for a victim of § 940.302(2) or 948.051 - § 939.46(1m) 
  • NEW 791 Example Coercion: Trafficking: Defense for a victim of § 940.302(2) or 948.051 - § 939.46(1m) 
  • 600 Introductory Comment: Not Guilty by Reason of Mental Disease or Defect: Instructions for the "Bifurcated" Trial and Reexamination
  • 700 Law Note: Theory of Defense Instructions
  • 800 Privilege: Self-Defense: Force Less Than That Likely to Cause Death or Great Bodily Harm 
  • 801 Privilege: Self-Defense: Force Less Than That Likely to Cause Death or Great Bodily Harm: Crimes Involving Recklessness or Negligence 
  • 805 Privilege: Self-Defense: Force Intended or Likely to Cause Death or Great Bodily Harm
  • 805A Law Note: Self-defense under § 939.48(1m)
  • 820 Privilege: Self-Defense: Injury to Third Party Charged as Reckless or Negligent Crime
  • 821 Privilege: Self-Defense: Unintended Harm to Third Party Charged as Intentional Crime
  • 950 Privilege: Discipline by a Person Responsible for the Welfare of a Child
  • 1021 First Degree Reckless Homicide
  • 2114A Example Repeated Acts of Physical Abuse of a Child 
  • 2666A Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of any Combination of an Intoxicant and any other Drug to a Degree that Renders Him or Her Incapable of Safely Driving
  • SM-16 Collateral Attack on Prior Convictions
  • SM-50 Competency to Proceed 
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. Complete printable files of each instruction set and finding aids are also available for those who need to print a complete set. Download them at https://wilawlibrary.gov/jury

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

July 21, 2022

2022 Criminal Jury Instructions released

The most recent supplement to the Wisconsin Criminal Jury Instructions has been approved by the Wisconsin Judicial Conference’s Criminal Jury Instructions Committee. The sixtieth supplement to this publication includes new, updated, and withdrawn instructions for the set. This supplement includes blank pages to support double sided page printing. These updates reflect material approved through June 2022.

New instructions

997 (New) Elder Person Victims § 939.623

1204 (New) First Degree Sexual Assault: Against an Individual Who is 60 Years of Age or Older § 940.225(1)(d)

1204 Example (New) First Degree Sexual Assault: Against an Individual Who is 60 Years of Age or Older § 940.225(1)(d)

1217B (New) Second Degree Sexual Assault: Sexual Contact or Intercourse by a Law Enforcement Officer with a Person Detained or In Custody § 940.225(2)(k)

1249A (New) Physical Abuse of an Elder Person: Intentional Causation of Great Bodily Harm § 940.198(2)(a)

1249B (New) Physical Abuse of an Elder Person: Intentional Causation of Bodily Harm § 940.198(2)(b)

1249C (New) Physical Abuse of an Elder Person: Intentional Causation of Bodily Harm to an Elder Person Under Circumstances or Conditions that are Likely to Produce Great Bodily Harm § 940.198(2)(c)

1249D (New) Physical Abuse of an Elder Person: Reckless Causation of Great Bodily Harm § 940.198(3)(a)

1249E (New) Physical Abuse of an Elder Person: Reckless Causation of Bodily Harm § 940.198(3)(b)

1249F (New) Physical Abuse of an Elder Person: Reckless Causation of Bodily Harm to an Elder Person Under Circumstances or Conditions that are Likely to Produce Great Bodily Harm § 940.198(3)(c)

2199 (New) Sex Offender Name Change § 301.47(2)(a)-(b)

SM-9 (New) When a Jury Requests to Hear/See Audio/Visual Evidence During Deliberations


Updated instructions

Introductory materials

50 Preliminary Instruction: Jurors' Conduct; Evidence; Transcripts Not Available; Credibility; Substantive Issues; Opening Statement

58 Transcripts Not Available for Deliberations; Reading Back Testimony

158 Recording Played to the Jury

300 Credibility of Witnesses

800 Privilege: Self-Defense: Force Less Than That Likely to Cause Death or Great Bodily Harm

801 Privilege: Self-Defense: Force Less Than That Likely to Cause Death or Great Bodily Harm: Crimes Involving Recklessness or Negligence

805 Privilege: Self-Defense: Force Intended or Likely to Cause Death or Great Bodily Harm

805A Law Note: Self-defense under § 939.48(1m)

820 Privilege: Self-Defense: Injury to Third Party Charged as Reckless or Negligent Crime

821 Privilege: Self-Defense: Unintended Harm to Third Party Charged as Intentional Crime

901 Cause

1021 First Degree Reckless Homicide

1030 Felony Murder: Underlying Crime Completed

1031 Felony Murder: Underlying Crime Attempted

1032 Felony Murder: Death Caused While Committing a Crime as a Party to the Crime: Aiding And Abetting

1208 Second Degree Sexual Assault: Sexual Contact or Intercourse Without Consent by Use or Threat of Force or Violence

1209 Second Degree Sexual Assault: Sexual Contact or Intercourse Without Consent Causing Injury, Illness, Disease or Impairment of a Sexual or Reproductive Organ, or Mental Anguish Requiring Psychiatric Care

1212 Second Degree Sexual Assault: Sexual Contact or Intercourse with a Person Who is Under the Influence of an Intoxicant

1213 Second Degree Sexual Assault: Sexual Contact or Intercourse with a Person the Defendant Knows is Unconscious

1214 Second Degree Sexual Assault: Sexual Contact or Intercourse Without Consent While Aided and Abetted

1215 Second Degree Sexual Assault: Sexual Contact or Intercourse with a Patient or Resident

1216 Second Degree Sexual Assault: Sexual Contact or Intercourse by a Correctional Staff Member

1217 Second Degree Sexual Assault: Sexual Contact or Intercourse by a Probation, Parole, or Extended Supervision Agent

1217A Second Degree Sexual Assault: Sexual Contact or Intercourse by an Employee of an Entity

1226 Battery with Substantial Risk of Great Bodily Harm

1228A Battery by a Person Committed under § 980.065

1231 Battery to a Probation, Extended Supervision and Parole Agent, Community Supervision Agent, or An Aftercare Agent

1237 Battery to an Emergency Medical Care Provider

1238 Battery or Threat to a Witness [Witness Has Attended or Testified]

1241A Battery to Guardian Ad Litem, Corporation Counsel, or Attorney

1241B Threat to Guardian Ad Litem, Corporation Counsel, or Attorney

1242 Battery or Threat to a Department of Revenue Employee

1244 Battery or Threat to a Department of Safety and Professional Services or Department of Workforce Development Employee

1247B Battery or Threat to a Health Care Provider § 940.204(3)

1255 Strangulation and Suffocation

1296 Intimidation of a Victim

1296A Intimidation of a Person Acting on Behalf of a Victim

1297 Intimidation of a Victim

1300 Negligent Operation of a Vehicle

1336 Carrying a Concealed Knife

1424 Burglary with Intent to Commit a Felony

1441 Theft

1443 Theft by Contractor

1443A Theft by Contractor: Defendant Is a Corporate Officer

1444 Theft by Employee, Trustee, or Bailee (Embezzlement)

1450 Theft by One Having an Undisputed Interest in Property from One Having Superior Right of Possession

1453A Theft by Fraud: Representations Made to the Owner, Directly or by a Third Person

1453B Theft by Fraud: Representations Made to an Agent

1453C Theft by Fraud: Failure to Disclose as a Representation

1455 Theft by Failure to Return Leased or Rented Property

1473B Extortion: Injure or Threaten to Injure

1532 Incest: Sexual Intercourse Between Blood Relatives

1900 Disorderly Conduct

2664A Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of a Combination of an Intoxicant and a Controlled Substance - Civil Forfeiture

2666A Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of any Combination of an Intoxicant and any other Drug to a Degree that Renders Him or Her Incapable of Safely Driving

6001 Finding the Amount of Controlled Substance


Withdrawn instructions


1243 (Withdrawn) Battery to a Nurse



The Library partners with the Office of Judicial Education to provide 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. To do so, download and print the sixtieth release. Blank pages have been inserted to make double sided printing easier. File new and updated instructions, along with the updated table of cases and index in your print set. A complete, printable file of all the current Criminal Jury Instructions and finding aids is also available.

September 13, 2021

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:



The following instructions have been updated:


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.

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