CACI No. 1621

Distress—No Physical Injury—Bystander—Essential Factual

Elements

[Name of plaintiff] claims that [he/she/ nonbinary pronoun] suffered serious

emotional distress as a result of perceiving [an injury to/the death of]

[name of victim]. To establish this claim, [name of plaintiff] must prove all

of the following:

1. That [name of defendant] negligently caused [injury to/the death

of] [name of victim];

2. That when the [describe event, e.g., traffıc accident] that caused

[injury to/the death of] [name of victim] occurred, [name of

plaintiff] was [virtually] present at the scene [through [specify

technological means]];

3. That [name of plaintiff] was then aware that the [e.g., traffıc

accident] was causing [injury to/the death of] [name of victim];

4. That [name of plaintiff] suffered serious emotional distress; and

5. That [name of defendant]’s conduct was a substantial factor in

causing [name of plaintiff]’s serious emotional distress.

[Name of plaintiff] need not have been then aware that [name of

defendant] had caused the [e.g., traffıc accident].

Emotional distress includes suffering, anguish, fright, horror,

nervousness, grief, anxiety, worry, shock, humiliation, and shame.

Serious emotional distress exists if an ordinary, reasonable person would

be unable to cope with it.

New September 2003; Revised December 2013, June 2014, December 2014,

December 2015, May 2022, July 2025*