(BRIBE
RECIPIENT)
(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 solicits, accepts or agrees to accept from another:
(a) Any
benefit as consideration for a decision, opinion, recommendation, vote or
exercise of discretion as 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 the following elements
beyond a reasonable doubt:
1. That the defendant directly or
indirectly solicited, accepted or agreed to accept a benefit from another.
2. CHOOSE AS APPROPRIATE
That the defendant did so as
consideration for a decision, opinion, recommendation, vote or exercise of
official discretion of (defendant himself/herself or a third party) as a public servant (party
official) (voter) on a public issue or in any public election.
(or)
that the defendant did so as
consideration for a decision, vote, recommendation or exercise of official
discretion of (defendant himself/herself or a third party) in
a (judicial) or (administrative) proceeding.
(or)
that the defendant did so as
consideration for (defendant himself/herself or a third
party), as a public servant (party official) violating an official duty.
(or)
that the defendant did so as
consideration for (defendant or a third party)’s performance of official
duties.
3. That
defendant acted purposely.
The first element that the State must
prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the defendant directly or indirectly
solicited, accepted or agreed to accept a benefit.
“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 IS 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
who solicited, accepted or agreed to accept 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.
The second element that the State must
prove beyond a reasonable doubt is:
[CHOOSE
AS APPROPRIATE]
That the defendant did so as
consideration for a decision, opinion, recommendation, vote or exercise of
official discretion of (defendant himself/herself or a third
party) as a public servant (party official) (voter) on a public issue or in any
public election.
(or)
that the defendant did so as
consideration for a decision, vote, recommendation or exercise of official
discretion of (defendant himself/herself or a third party) in
a (judicial) or (administrative) proceeding.
(or)
that the defendant did so as
consideration for (defendant himself/herself or a third
party), as a public servant (party official) violating an official duty.
(or)
that the defendant did so as
consideration for (defendant himself/herself or a third
party)’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 at the time he/she committed an unlawful act.
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
pecuniary 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 pecuniary 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.
