INJURING A SERVICE ANIMAL OR GUIDE DOG[1]
N.J.S.A. 2C:29‑3.2 model jury charge
If you find the defendant not guilty
of killing a service animal or guide dog, you must consider the lesser‑included
offense of injuring a service animal or guide dog. The law requires
that the Court instruct the jury with respect to possible (lesser) included
offenses, even if they are not contained in the indictment. Just because the Court is instructing you
concerning these offenses does not mean that the Court has any opinion one way
or another about whether the defendant committed these, or any, offenses. You should consider these offenses along with
those for which the defendant is indicted. However, you are not to render a verdict on
these offenses or answer the questions on the verdict sheet unless you find
that the State has failed to meet its burden with regard to the offense(s) in
the indictment.
Injuring a service animal or guide dog is a lesser-included offense to count ______ of
this indictment.
The applicable statute provides, in
pertinent part, that:
(a)ny person who recklessly injures a
service animal or guide dog, or recklessly permits a dog that the person owns
or over which the person has immediate control, to injure a service animal or
guide dog
commits an offense.
In order for you to find the defendant
guilty, the State must prove the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
1.
that the
animal was a service animal or guide dog;
2.
that the
defendant [CHOOSE APPLICABLE ALTERNATIVE] injured the animal
OR permitted a dog he/she owned or over which he/she had immediate control to injure the animal; and
3. that
the defendant acted recklessly.
The first element that the State must
prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the animal was a service animal or
guide dog.
“Service animal”[2] means any dog
that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an
individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric,
intellectual, or other mental disability. Other species of animals, whether wild or
domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals. The work or tasks performed by a service
animal must be directly related to the individual’s disability. Examples of work or tasks include, but are not
limited to, assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with
navigation and other tasks, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of
hearing to the presence of people or sounds, providing non‑violent protection
or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, assisting an individual during a seizure,
alerting individuals to the presence of allergens, retrieving items such as
medicine or the telephone, providing physical support and assistance with
balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities, and helping
persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or
interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors. The crime deterrent effects of an animal’s
presence and the provision of emotional support, well‑being, comfort, or companionship
do not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition.
“Guide dog”[3] means a dog
which has been or is being raised or trained to provide assistance to a blind
or deaf person, including but not limited to a dog that has been or is being
raised or trained by a volunteer puppy raiser or staff member of an
organization generally recognized as being involved in the rehabilitation of
the blind or deaf and reputable and competent to provide dogs with specialized
training.
The second element that the State must
prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the defendant [CHOOSE APPLICABLE
ALTERNATIVE] injured the animal OR permitted a dog he/she owned or over which he/she had immediate control to injure the
animal.
The third element that the State must
prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the defendant acted recklessly.
A person acts recklessly with respect
to the result of his/her
conduct if he/she consciously disregards a substantial
and unjustifiable risk that the result will occur from his/her
conduct. The risk must be of such a
nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the actor’s
conduct and the circumstances known to the actor, its disregard involves a
gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would
observe in the actor’s situation. One is
said to act recklessly if one acts with recklessness, with scorn for the
consequences, heedlessly, fool‑hardily.
In other words, you must find that the
defendant was aware of and consciously disregarded the risk of causing injury
to a service animal or guide dog. If you
find that the defendant was aware of and disregarded the risk of causing injury
to a service animal or guide dog, you must determine whether the risk that he/she disregarded was substantial and
unjustifiable. In doing so, you must
consider the nature and purpose of the defendant’s conduct, and the
circumstances known to the defendant, and you must determine whether, in light
of those factors, the defendant’s disregard of that risk was a gross deviation
from the conduct a reasonable person would have observed in the defendant’s
situation.
If you find that the State has proven
every element of this offense beyond a reasonable doubt, then you must find the
defendant guilty. If, however, you find
that the State has failed to prove any element of this offense beyond a
reasonable doubt, then you must find the defendant not guilty.
[1] This charge is intended for use in
those situations in which this disorderly persons offense is a lesser‑included
offense of a crime charged in the indictment.
[2] N.J.S.A. 2C:29‑3.2e defines
“service animal” with the same meaning as set forth in the federal “Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990,” 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., and
any regulations under the act. See
also 28 C.F.R. § 36.104 (2013).
[3] See N.J.S.A. 2C:29‑3.2e.