VIOLATION OF AN ORDER
UNDER THE PREVENTION
OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT (N.J.S.A.
2C:29-9b) model jury charge
The defendant, , is charged
with the crime of violating a court order entered under the Prevention of
Domestic Violence Act.
New Jersey statutes describe this
crime as follows:
. . . a person is guilty
of a crime. . . if that person purposely or knowingly violates [a] provision in
an order entered under the provisions of the "Prevention of Domestic
Violence Act . . . "when the conduct which constitutes the violation could
also constitute a crime or a disorderly persons offense.[1]
In order for the defendant to be
found guilty of this crime, the State has the burden of proving beyond a
reasonable doubt the following four elements:
1. There
was a court order entered under the provisions of the "Prevention of
Domestic Violence Act".
2. The
defendant knew of the existence of the order.
3. The
defendant purposely or knowingly violated a provision of the order.
4. The
conduct which constituted the violation could also constitute a crime or a
disorderly persons offense.
The
first element is that there was a court order entered under the provisions of
the “Prevention of Domestic Violence Act”.
The second element is that the
defendant knew of the existence of the order.
I shall shortly define “knowingly” for you.
The
third element is that the defendant purposely or knowingly violated a provision
of the order.
A
person acts purposely with respect to the nature of his/her conduct or a result thereof if it is his/her conscious object to engage in conduct of that nature or to
cause such a result. A person acts
purposely with respect to attendant circumstances if he/she
is aware of the existence of such circumstances or he/she
believes or hopes that they exist.
"With purpose," "designed," "with design"
or equivalent terms have the same meaning.
A person acts knowingly with respect to the nature of his/her conduct or the
attendant circumstances if he/she is aware that his/her conduct is of that
nature, or that such circumstances exist, or he/she is aware of a high probability of their existence. A person acts knowingly with respect to a
result of his/her conduct if
he/she is aware that it is practically certain that his/her conduct will cause such
a result. "Knowing,"
"with knowledge" or equivalent terms have the same meaning.
It is alleged that defendant violated [state specifics of
Order] by the following conduct:
[Describe alleged
acts.]
In order for you to find the defendant guilty of the
crime charged, you must find that the defendant's conduct could also constitute
the crime(s) of ________________________________ or the disorderly persons offense(s)
of___________________________________________.
[In
cases in which the trials of the violation of domestic violence order charge
and of the underlying indictable crime arising out of the same criminal episode
have been severed, and are being tried sequentially before the same jury, the
following language should be charged if the jury has already found the
defendant guilty of either the indictable crime or a lesser included disorderly
persons offense.[2] (This language, however, should not be
charged where defendant affirmatively requests that it not be given[3]).
In regard to the fourth element, that defendant’s conduct
also constituted the (crime/disorderly persons) offense of _____________, you
must disregard your prior verdict finding defendant guilty of the
(crime/disorderly persons offense) of ______________. As with any other element, the State’s burden
is to prove this element beyond a reasonable doubt. In making the determination as to whether the
State has met this burden, you may consider the evidence previously presented
to you, as well as the court’s instructions, pertaining to the
(crime/disorderly persons offense) of _______________[4].]
[In cases not involving sequential trials, instruct on
the elements of the applicable crime(s) and/or disorderly persons offense(s).]
If you find that the State has proven the first three
elements beyond a reasonable doubt, that is, that there was a court order
entered under the provisions of the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, that
the defendant knew of the existence of the order, and that he/she purposely or knowingly violated the provision of the order
as described, but you are not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the
conduct which constituted the violation could also constitute a separate crime
or disorderly persons offense, then the defendant must be found guilty of a
less serious offense, namely a disorderly persons offense of violating a court
order entered under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act. Thus, you may return one of three possible
verdicts on this charge: (1) guilty of
the crime of violating a court order entered under the Prevention of Domestic
Violence Act, which requires conduct that could also constitute a separate
crime or disorderly persons offense, (2) guilty of the disorderly persons
offense of violating a court order entered under the Prevention of Domestic
Violence Act, which does not require conduct that could also constitute a
separate crime or disorderly persons offense, or (3) not guilty.
To summarize, if you find that the
State has failed to prove each and every one of the first three elements beyond
a reasonable doubt, namely that there was a court order entered under the
provisions of the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, that the defendant knew
of the existence of the order, and that he/she
purposely or knowingly violated a provision of the order, you must find the
defendant not guilty. If you find that
the State has proven all of the first three elements beyond a reasonable doubt,
but you are not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the conduct which
constituted the violation could also constitute a separate crime or disorderly
persons offense, you must find the defendant guilty of the disorderly persons
offense of violating an order under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act. If you find that the State has proven all
four elements beyond a reasonable doubt, including the element that the conduct
which constituted the violation could also constitute a separate crime or
disorderly persons offense, you must find the defendant guilty of the crime of
violating an order under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act.
[1] Orders
entered pursuant to paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (8) and (9) of N.J.S.A.
2C:25-29(b) shall be excluded from the provisions of this subsection.
[4] The
Court may wish to restate the elements of the underlying crime or disorderly
persons offense if it is felt that a sufficient time period has elapsed since
the jury was given its instructions on that crime or disorderly persons
offense.