FRAUDULENT USE OF CREDIT CARDS (USING) N.J.S.A. 2C:21-6h model jury charge
The defendant is charged with
fraudulent use of a credit card.
Specifically,
(Read Count of Indictment)
The applicable section of the
statute reads as follows:
A person who knowingly uses any counterfeit, fictitious,
altered, forged, lost, stolen or fraudulently obtained credit card to obtain
money, goods or services, or anything else of value . . is guilty of a crime.
In order
to find the defendant guilty, the State must prove the following elements
beyond a reasonable doubt:
1. That the defendant used any
counterfeit, fictitious, altered, forged, lost, stolen or fraudulently obtained
credit card.
2. That
the defendant obtained money, goods, services or anything else of value.
3. That the defendant acted knowingly.
The
first element that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the
defendant used any counterfeit, fictitious, altered, forged, lost, stolen or
fraudulently obtained credit card.
“Credit
card” means any tangible or intangible instrument or device issued with or
without a fee by an issuer that can be used, alone or in connection with another
means of account access, in obtaining money, goods, services or anything else
of value on credit, including credit cards, credit plates, account numbers, or
any other means of account access.
“Cardholder”
means the person or organization named on the face of a credit card to whom or
for whose benefit the credit card is issued by an issuer.
The
second element that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the
defendant obtained money, goods or services or anything else of value through
the use of the credit card.
The
third element that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the
defendant acted knowingly.
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. A
person acts knowingly with respect to the nature of his/her
conduct if he/she is aware that his/her
conduct is of that nature. “Knowing,”
“with knowledge” or equivalent terms have the same meaning.
Knowledge
is a condition of the mind which cannot be seen and can only be determined by
inferences from conduct, words or acts.
It is not necessary for the State to produce a witness or witnesses who
could testify that the defendant acted knowingly.
If
you find that the State has proven all of the above elements beyond a
reasonable doubt, then you must find the defendant guilty of the crime charged.
If,
however, you find that the State has failed to prove any of the elements of the
crime beyond a reasonable doubt, you must then find the defendant not guilty.