DE · jury_instructions
Del. P.J.I. Crim. No. 2.5
State of Mind
STATE OF MIND
An element of the criminal offense[s] I have just defined for you deals with
the state of mind of the defendant. It is, of course, difficult to know what is going
on in another person's mind. Therefore, you are permitted to draw an inference, or
in other words to reach a conclusion, about a defendant's state of mind from the
facts and circumstances. In reaching this conclusion, you may consider whether a
reasonable person acting in the defendant's circumstances would have had or would
not have had the required intention, knowledge or belief. You should, however,
keep in mind at all times that it is the defendant's state of mind which is at issue. In
order to convict the defendant, you are required to find beyond a reasonable doubt
that the defendant in fact had the intention, knowledge, or belief required for a
finding of guilt.
The fact that our law permits you to draw an inference about a defendant's
state of mind in no way relieves the State of its burden of proving beyond a
reasonable doubt every element of an offense.
Provenance
- Source
- courts.delaware.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-23
- Edition
- crim-2022-03-14
- Content hash
519ad40b47839e4aaef999ab84e815db46785bca3bd1e689dfbd7e4f22815323
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