EFFECT OF INTOXICATION ON JURY'S CONSIDERATION OF
(N.J.S.A. 2C: 2-8b) model jury charge
I
have already explained that evidence that the defendant ingested [intoxicant(s)] may be considered by you in determining
whether the State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted
purposely or knowingly with respect to the offense(s) of offense(s) requiring purpose or knowledge
to which intoxication defense applies)
.
I
have also explained that if you find the State has failed to prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that the defendant acted with purpose or knowledge, you must go
on to consider whether the State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt the
elements of (lesser included
offense(s) requiring reckless mental state)
.
In
determining whether the State has proven that the defendant acted recklessly,[2] you are
not to consider whether the defendant's use of [intoxicant(s)] prevented him/her from consciously disregarding a
substantial and unjustifiable risk. You
are not to consider whether the use of [intoxicant(s)] made the defendant unaware of a risk of which he/she would have been aware if he/she had been sober. In other words, the State does not have to
prove that the defendant was, in fact, aware of the risk. Rather the State need only prove that the
defendant would have been aware of the risk if he/she has been sober at the time of the
offense. This means that if you find
that the defendant was intoxicated, you are not to consider his/her actual intoxicated mental state in determining whether he/she acted recklessly. Instead, you are to view defendant's conduct
as if he/she had been sober, and determine
whether he/she would have been aware of a
risk of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of
the defendant's conduct and the circumstances that would have been known to him/her had he/she been sober, the disregarding of such
risk involved a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable
person would observe in the defendant's situation.[3]
[1] The language of this charge is taken
directly from State v. Warren, 104 N.J. 571, 577, 578 (1986).
Placement of this charge will
depend on the facts of the case. For
example, in a murder case, if aggravated manslaughter and manslaughter are
appropriate lesser included offenses irrespective of the introduction of
intoxication evidence, the basic 2C:2-8a self-induced intoxication charge might
appropriately be placed after the charges on murder, aggravated manslaughter
and manslaughter, with this charge placed directly after the 2C:2-8a
self-induced charge. If, however, the
sole basis for submitting the lesser included offenses is the evidence of
intoxication, the 2C:2-8a self-induced intoxication charge should be placed
after the murder charge but before the charges on aggravated manslaughter and
manslaughter and this charge should be placed after the aggravated manslaughter
and manslaughter instructions.
