DE · jury_instructions
Del. P.J.I. Crim. No. 5.4
Ignorance or Mistake of Fact
IGNORANCE OR MISTAKE OF FACT
The defendant has raised the defense of ignorance or mistake of fact.
The defense is available if:
the ignorance or mistake negates the state of mind required for the crime; or
the statute defining the crime, or a related statute, expressly provides that
ignorance or mistake constitutes a defense; or
the ignorance or mistake supports a defense of justification.
If, after considering all the evidence tending to support this defense, you
find that the evidence raises a reasonable doubt in your mind about the defendant’s
guilt, you must find the defendant not guilty of the crime. You must consider
evidence of this defense along with all the other evidence in determining
whether the State has satisfied its burden of proving the defendant’s guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt.
Provenance
- Source
- courts.delaware.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-23
- Edition
- crim-2022-03-14
- Content hash
23c0e98905fb955edeb4363dd1360b7736ebb85062753fc80ae12fafb49f6dc3
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