POSSESSION
OF FALSE GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS WITH INTENT TO SELL
(N.J.S.A.
2C:21-2.1a) model jury charge
Count ____ of the indictment
charges the defendant with possession of false government documents with intent
to sell.
(Read the count from the indictment)
The statute upon which this count of the indictment is based states in
pertinent part:
A person who knowingly . . . possesses with
the intent to sell, offer or expose for sale, or otherwise transfer, a
document, printed form or other writing which falsely purports to be a driver’s
license, birth certificate or other document issued by a governmental agency
and which could be used as a means of verifying a person’s identity or age or
any other personal identifying information is guilty of a crime.
In this case, the State alleges that the defendant (describe).
In order for you to find the defendant guilty of this offense, the State
must prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
1. That
on (cite date set forth in indictment) the
defendant knowingly possessed a (CHOOSE
APPROPRIATE: [document] [printed
form] [other writing]);
2. That
the document, printed form, other writing falsely purported to be a (CHOOSE APPROPRIATE: [driver’s license]
[birth certificate] [other document])
issued by a governmental agency that could be used as a means of verifying a
person’s identity or age or any other personal identifying information; and
3. That
the defendant intended to (CHOOSE
APPROPRIATE: [sell] [offer] [expose for sale] [otherwise transfer]) the (CHOOSE APPROPRIATE: [document] [printed form] [other writing]).
The first element
that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that on (cite date set forth in indictment) the
defendant knowingly possessed a (CHOOSE
APPROPRIATE: [document] [printed form] [other writing]).
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.
Knowledge
is a condition of the mind. It cannot be
seen. It can only be determined by
inferences from the defendant’s conduct, words or acts. A state of mind is rarely susceptible of
direct proof but must ordinarily be inferred from the facts. Therefore, it is not necessary that the State
produce witnesses to testify that an accused said that he/she
had a certain state of mind when he/she
did a particular thing. It is within
your power to find that such proof has been furnished beyond a reasonable doubt
by inferences which may arise from the nature of his/her acts and conduct and from all he/she
said and did at the particular time and place and from all surrounding
circumstances established by the evidence.
“Writing”
includes printing or [CHOOSE AS
APPROPRIATE: any other method of recording information, money, coins,
tokens, stamps, seals, credit cards, badges, trademarks, access devices, and
other symbols of value, right, privilege, or identification, including retail
sales receipts, universal product code (UPC) labels and checks.[1]]
The first element of the
statute also requires the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the
defendant possessed a document, printed form or other writing.
[CHARGE THOSE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS AS APPLY TO YOUR
CASE]
ACTUAL POSSESSION
A person is in
actual possession of an item when he/she first, knows what it is: that is, he/she has knowledge of its character, and second, knowingly has
it on his/her
person at a given time.
CONSTRUCTIVE POSSESSION
Possession may be
constructive instead of actual. As I
just stated, a person who, with knowledge of its character, knowingly has
direct physical control over an item at a given time is in actual possession of
it.
Constructive
possession means possession in which the possessor does not physically have the
item on his or her person but is aware that the item is present and is able to and
has the intention to exercise control over it.
So, someone who has knowledge of the character of an item and knowingly
has both the power and the intention at a given time to exercise control over
it, either directly or through another person or persons, is then in
constructive possession of that item.
JOINT POSSESSION
Possession may be
sole or joint. If one person alone has
actual or constructive possession of an item, possession is sole. If two or more persons share actual or
constructive knowing possession of an item, possession is joint.
The second element
that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the (CHOOSE APPROPRIATE: [document] [printed
form] [other writing]) was falsely
purported to be a (CHOOSE APPROPRIATE: [driver’s
license] [birth certificate] [other document]) issued by a governmental agency. (CHOOSE
APPROPRIATE: [The State has offered evidence] [It has been stipulated]) that the (insert name of governmental agency) is a governmental agency. The second element also requires that the
State prove beyond a reasonable doubt (or it has been stipulated) that the (CHOOSE APPROPRIATE: [document] [printed
form] [other writing]), purported to
be issued by a governmental agency, could be used as a means of verifying a
person’s identity or age or other personal identifying information.
“Personal identifying information” means
any name, number or other information that may be used, alone or in conjunction
with any other information, to identify a specific individual and includes, but
is not limited to, the name, address, telephone number, date of birth, social
security number, official State issued identification number, employer or
taxpayer number, place of employment, employee identification number, demand
deposit account number, savings account number, credit card number, mother's
maiden name, unique biometric data, such as fingerprint, voice print, retina or
iris image or other unique physical representation, or unique electronic identification
number, address or routing code of the individual.[2]
The third element that the
State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the defendant intended to (CHOOSE APPROPRIATE: [sell] [offer] [expose
for sale] [otherwise transfer]) the (CHOOSE APPROPRIATE: [document] [printed
form] [other writing]). In regard to the third element, the State
must prove that the defendant had the intent to sell, offer or expose for sale,
or otherwise transfer the document marked S___ in evidence. Transfer can be actual, constructive or
attempted, from one person to another of the document(s) marked S____ in
evidence. It is not necessary that the document,
printed form or other writing be transferred in exchange for payment or promise
of payment of money or anything of value.
A person acts
“with intent” when he/she acts with
purpose. A person acts purposely with
respect to the nature of his/her conduct or a result thereof if it is his/her conscious objective 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 believes or hopes that they exist. One can be deemed to be acting purposely if he/she acts with
design, with a purpose, with a particular objective, if the individual means to
do what he/she does. Purpose 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
purposely. It is within your power as jurors to
determine that such proof has been shown beyond a reasonable doubt.
If
the State has proven each of the elements of this crime beyond a reasonable
doubt, then you must find the defendant guilty of having possessed false
government documents with intent to sell.
However, if the State has failed to prove any element beyond a
reasonable doubt, then you must find the defendant not guilty.