DE · jury_instructions
Del. P.J.I. Crim. No. 11.636(a)(4)
Murder in the First Degree Reckless Killing of [Law Enforcement or Corrections Officer or Fireman]
MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE
[RECKLESS KILLING OF LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICER/
CORRECTIONS OFFICER/FIREFIGHTER]
In order to find Defendant guilty of Murder in the First Degree, you must
find the State has proved the following three (3) elements beyond a reasonable
doubt:
(1) Defendant caused the death of a person;
(2) The person was a [law-enforcement officer/corrections officer/
(volunteer/full-time) firefighter], acting in the lawful performance of duty at the
time of death; and
(3) Defendant acted recklessly.
In order to prove Defendant “caused” the person’s death, the State must
establish that the person would not have died but for Defendant’s conduct.
“Recklessly” means Defendant was aware of and consciously disregarded a
substantial and unjustifiable risk that death would result from Defendant’s
conduct. The State must demonstrate the risk was of such a nature and degree that
Defendant’s disregard of the risk was a gross deviation from the standard of
conduct a reasonable person would observe under the same circumstances.
Provenance
- Source
- courts.delaware.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-23
- Edition
- crim-2022-03-14
- Content hash
22966282883cd2c2ff090238b8e082fb7ae0071a8e2e194dcbd6c88ccf74d352
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