ESCAPE IMPLEMENTS - INMATE PROVIDING HIMSELF
(N.J.S.A. 2C:29‑6a)
The relevant statute provides that "an inmate [of
an institution or detention facility] commits an offense if he knowingly and
unlawfully procures, makes, or otherwise provides himself with, or has in his
possession, [any weapon, tool or other thing which may be useful for
escape]."
To
obtain a conviction on this charge, the State must prove each of the following
elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
(1) That defendant was an inmate of an
institution or detention facility;
(2) That defendant procured, made, or
otherwise provided himself/herself with, or had
in his/her possession S1;
(3) That S1 is a weapon, tool or other thing
which may be useful for escape; and
(4) That defendant acted both knowingly and
unlawfully.
For
these purposes, an institution or a detention facility means any place designed
to hold persons charged with criminal or other offenses while they are awaiting
trial or after they have been convicted.
is such an institution (or such a detention
facility).
To
procure an item is to acquire or obtain it from another; to make it is to
manufacture or fashion it oneself; to otherwise provide oneself with it is to
obtain it in some other way. Possession
is the intentional exercise of dominion and control over an item with knowledge
of its character. For the purposes of
this element, it is not necessary that you resolve how or when defendant may
have obtained S1 if you find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant
procured, made, otherwise provided himself/herself with or
possessed S1.
Escape
means removal of oneself from official detention in an institution or a
detention facility (or a failure to return to official detention in an
institution or a detention facility following temporary leave for a specific
purpose or limited period) without lawful authority.[1]
Knowingly. A person acts knowingly with respect to the
nature of his/her conduct or the attendant circumstances if the person is aware that his/her conduct is of that nature, or that such circumstances exist, or the
person is aware of a high probability of their existence. A person acts knowingly with respect to a
result of his/her conduct if the person is aware that it is practically certain that his/her conduct will cause such a result.
Unlawfully
means surreptitiously or contrary to law, regulation or order of the detaining
authority.
Again,
the elements of the crime that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt
are that defendant was an inmate of an institution or a detention facility;
that defendant procured, made or otherwise provided himself/herself with or had in his/her
possession S1; that S1 is a weapon, tool or other thing which may be useful for
escape; and that defendant acted both knowingly and unlawfully. If you find that the State has failed to
prove any one or more of these elements beyond a reasonable doubt then your
verdict should be Not Guilty and you should deliberate no further. On the other hand, if you find that the State
has proven all of these elements beyond a reasonable doubt, then your verdict
should be Guilty and you must deliberate further to determine the degree of the
offense.
Under
our law, the crime of providing oneself with an implement for escape while an
inmate of an institution or a detention facility is a crime of the second degree
if the implement for escape is a weapon and a crime of the third degree if it
is not. Therefore, if you find the
defendant Guilty you must determine whether S1 is a weapon to determine the
degree of the offense. A weapon is
defined as anything readily capable of lethal use or of inflicting serious
bodily injury.[2]
Here,
as always, the burden of proof is on the State and the standard is proof beyond
a reasonable doubt. If you find that the
State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt not only that defendant committed
the crime of providing himself/herself with an
implement for escape while the defendant was an inmate of an institution or a
detention facility, but also that the implement for escape is a weapon, then
your verdict should be Guilty of the second degree offense. On the other hand,
if you find that the State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant
committed the crime of providing himself/herself with an
implement for escape while he/she was an inmate of an institution or a detention facility, but you also
find that the State has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the
implement for escape is a weapon, then your verdict should be Guilty of the
third degree offense.
