Ala. Pattern Jury Instr. (Criminal) 13A-10-11

Impersonating a Peace Officer

The defendant is charged with impersonating a peace officer.

A person commits the crime of impersonating a peace officer if he/she falsely

pretends to be a peace officer and does any act in that capacity.

To convict, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt each of the following

elements:

(1) The Defendant falsely pretended to be a peace officer;

(2) The defendant did an act in that capacity, [insert description]; (AND)

(3) The Defendant acted [insert appropriate mens rea element – See Use

Notes].

Peace officer is any public servant vested by law with a duty to maintain public

order or to make arrests for crime, whether that duty extends to all crimes or is limited to

specific crimes. [13-10-1(5)]

If you find from the evidence that the State has proved beyond a reasonable doubt

each of the above elements of impersonating a peace officer, then you shall find the

defendant guilty of impersonating a peace officer.

If you find that the State has failed to prove any one or more of the elements of the

offense of impe rsonating a peace officer, then you cannot find the defendant guilty of

impersonating a peace officer.

[If lesser-included offenses are included, the Court should instruct on those

offenses at this point.]