CO · jury_instructions
COLJI-Crim. E:14
LESSER-INCLUDED OFFENSES
If you are not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant
is guilty of the offense charged, he [she] may, however, be found guilty of
any lesser offense, the commission of which is necessarily included in the
offense charged if the evidence is sufficient to establish his [her] guilt of the
lesser offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
The offense of [insert name of offense(s) here], as charged in the
information in this case necessarily includes the lesser offense[s] of [insert
name(s) of lesser-included offense(s) here].
[Using the appropriate elemental instruction for each lesser-included
offense as a guide, insert a definition of each such offense here,
leaving out the last two paragraphs of the inserted instruction (i.e.,
the paragraphs that begin with the words: “After considering all the
evidence”). List the lesser-included offenses from highest to lowest
degree if submitting more than one lesser-included offense.]
You should bear in mind that the burden is always upon the
prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt each and every element of
any lesser-included offense which is necessarily included in any offense
charged in the information; the law never imposes upon a defendant in a
criminal case the burden of calling any witnesses or producing any
evidence.
After considering all the evidence, if you decide that the prosecution
has proven each of the elements of the crime charged or of a lesser-included offense, you should find the defendant guilty of the offense
proven, and you should so state in your verdict.
After considering all the evidence, if you decide that the prosecution
has failed to prove one or more elements of the crime charged and one or
more elements of the lesser-included offenses, you should find the
defendant not guilty of these offenses, and you should so state in your
verdict.
While you may find the defendant not guilty of the crimes charged
and the lesser-included offense[s], you may not find the defendant guilty of
more than one of the following offenses:
[Insert the charged offense and all lesser-included offenses.]
History
COLJI-Crim. (2025), Colorado Supreme Court Model Criminal Jury Instructions Committee. The committee's page: "The 2025 edition was published online on February 25, 2026." © 2025 Supreme Court of Colorado for the State of Colorado.
Provenance
- Source
- www.coloradojudicial.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-24
- Edition
- crim-2026-02-25
- Content hash
eacad4eb7e2c44a874bcaa8c9bbdb74bb45fbe6a0d410c42a78599f0576f009d
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