BRIBERY
IN OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL MATTERS
(BRIBE
GIVER)
(N.J.S.A.
2C:27‑2) model jury charge
Count ________ of the indictment charges
defendant with the crime of bribery.
[READ
COUNT OF INDICTMENT]
That statute reads in pertinent part as
follows:
A
person is guilty of bribery if he directly or indirectly offers, confers or
agrees to confer upon another...
(a)
Any benefit as consideration
for a decision, opinion, recommendation, vote or exercise of discretion of a
public servant, party official or voter, on any public issue or in any public
election.
(or)
(b) Any
benefit as consideration for a decision, vote, recommendation or exercise of
official discretion in a judicial or administrative proceeding.
(or)
(c) Any
benefit as consideration for a violation of an official duty of a public
servant or party official.
(or)
(d) Any
benefit as consideration for the performance of official duties.
In order for you to find the defendant
guilty of the crime of bribery, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt
the following elements:
1. That
the defendant directly or indirectly offered, conferred or agreed to confer a
benefit upon insert name of person.
2. CHOOSE
AS APPROPRIATE
(a) That the defendant did so as
consideration for (insert name of person)'s decision, opinion,
recommendation, vote or exercise of official discretion as a public servant
(party official) (voter) on a public issue or in any public election.
(or)
(b) that the defendant did so as
consideration for (insert name of person)'s decision, vote, recommendation
or exercise of official discretion in a judicial (an administrative)
proceeding.
(or)
(c) that the defendant did so as
consideration for (insert name of person), a public servant (party
official) violating an official duty.
(or)
(d) that the defendant did so as
consideration for (insert name of person)’s performance of official
duties).
3. That
the defendant acted purposely.
The first element that the State must
prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that defendant directly or indirectly
offered, conferred or agreed to confer a benefit upon (insert name of person).
“Benefit” means gain or advantage, or
anything regarded by the beneficiary as gain or advantage, including a
pecuniary benefit or a benefit to any other person or entity in whose welfare he/she is interested.[1] “Benefit as consideration” means any benefit
not authorized by law.
[CHARGE
IF PECUNIARY BENEFIT ALLEGED]
“Pecuniary benefit” is benefit in the
form of money, property, commercial interests or anything else the primary significance
of which is economic gain.[2]
[CHARGE
IF APPLICABLE]
It is no defense to bribery that a person
whom the actor sought to influence was not qualified to act in the desired way
whether because he/she had not assumed office, or lacked jurisdiction or for
any other reason.
[CHARGE
IF APPLICABLE]
It is no defense to bribery that a person
who offered, conferred or agreed to confer a benefit did so as a result of
conduct by another constituting theft by extortion or coercion or an attempt to
commit either of those crimes.
[CHARGE
IN ALL CASES]
The second element that the State must
prove beyond a reasonable doubt is: [CHOOSE AS APPROPRIATE]:
(a) That the defendant did so as
consideration for (insert name of person)'s decision, opinion,
recommendation, vote or exercise of official discretion as a public servant
(party official) (voter) on a public issue or in any public election.
(or)
(b) that the defendant did so as
consideration for (insert name of person)'s decision, vote,
recommendation or exercise of official discretion in a judicial or (an
administrative) proceeding.
(or)
(c) that the defendant did so as
consideration for (insert name of person), a public servant (party
official) violating an official duty.
(or)
(d) that
the defendant did so as consideration for (insert name of person)’s
performance of official duties).
“Consideration” means some right,
interest or profit accruing to one party.[3]
[CHOOSE AS APPLICABLE]
“Public servant” means any officer or
employee of government, including legislators and judges, and any person
participating as juror, advisor, consultant or otherwise, in performing a
governmental function, but the term does not include witnesses.[4] “Government” means any branch, subdivision or
agency of the government of the state or any locality within it.[5]
“Party official” means a person who holds
an elective or appointive post in a political party in the United States by
virtue of which he/she directs or conducts, or participates in directing or
conducting party affairs at any level or responsibility.[6]
“Administrative proceeding” means any
proceeding, other than a judicial proceeding, the outcome of which is required
to be based on a record or documentation prescribed by law, or in which law or
regulation is particularized in application to individuals.[7]
[CHARGE
IN ALL CASES]
The third element that the State must
prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that defendant acted purposely. 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. Purpose, with purpose, and
similar words have the same meaning. In
other words, in order for you to find that the defendant acted purposely, the
State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was the defendant's
conscious object to give a bribe.
Purpose is a state or a condition of the
mind which cannot be seen and can only be determined by inferences from
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,
members of the jury, that witnesses be produced to testify that an accused said
he/she had a certain state of mind when he/she engaged in a particular act. His/Her
state of mind may be gathered from his/her
acts and his/her
conduct, and from all he/she said and did at the particular time and place, and from all
of the surrounding circumstances.
If you
find that the State has proved each of these three elements beyond a reasonable
doubt, you must find the defendant guilty of bribery. If the State has failed to prove any of these
elements beyond a reasonable doubt, you must find the defendant not guilty.
[IF THE STATE ALLEGES THAT THE
BENEFIT IS PECUNIARY, ADD][8]
If the State has
proved each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, you must determine
the value of the benefit involved. “Pecuniary
benefit” is benefit in the form of money, property, commercial interests or
anything else the primary significance of which is economic gain. The State must prove beyond a reasonable
doubt that the value of the benefit involved [IF APPROPRIATE, ADD: for each
specific instance concerning which you have reached a verdict of guilty] exceeds
$200.
[1] N.J.S.A. 2C:27-1a.
[2] N.J.S.A. 2C:27-1f.
[3] Black’s Law Dictionary (5th ed).
[4] N.J.S.A. 2C:27-1e.
[5] N.J.S.A. 2C:27-1b.
[6] N.J.S.A. 2C:27-1g.
[7] N.J.S.A. 2C:27-1h.
[8]
If a particular case
involves an allegation of receipt of a pecuniary benefit and a non-pecuniary
benefit, there should be separate interrogatories on the verdict sheet as to
each type of benefit. This is because bribery
is a crime of the second degree unless the value of the pecuniary benefit is
$200 or less.