CO · jury_instructions
CJI-Civ. 41:4
Statement of the Case and Requirements for Establishing Child Dependent and Neglected
(The Court) (I) will now instruct you as to the claims of the parties and the law
governing the case. Please pay close attention to these instructions. You must all agree on
your verdict, applying the law as you are now instructed to the facts as you find them to be.
The petitioner claims that (name of child) is dependent and neglected because: (insert
those allegations from the petition on which sufficient evidence has been introduced and which if
established would constitute a legal basis for determining that the child is dependent and
neglected).
The respondent(s), (name[s]), (has) (have) denied these claims.
The guardian ad litem, (name), claims (insert appropriate description of the guardian’s
position).
These are the issues you are to determine, but are not to be considered by you as
evidence in the case (except for those facts which have been admitted or agreed to).
The claims made in the petition must be proved by a preponderance of the evidence
and no inference that the claims have been proved should be drawn from the (filing of a
petition) (appointment of a guardian ad litem to represent the best interest of the child) (or)
(entry of a court order placing the temporary custody of the child with someone other than
the parent[s] of the child).
Neither sympathy nor prejudice should influence you. It is the Court’s
responsibility to decide what action to take with respect to the child and the respondent[s]
as a result of your verdict. You should not consider what the court might do in reaching
your verdict.
History
CJI-Civ. (2026), Colorado Supreme Court Committee on Pattern Civil Jury Instructions. Dated 2026-02-25 by the committee page's "Revised 2/25/26".
Provenance
- Source
- www.coloradojudicial.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-24
- Edition
- civ-2026-02-25
- Content hash
32dffd1e680382f6e6806d71e7419b96073769f066e1f521814687069ee02478
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