DE · jury_instructions
Del. P.J.I. Crim. No. 5.62
Accident
ACCIDENT
The defendant has raised the defense of accident to [charge]. The State
must prove that the defendant had the state of mind required by the statute
defining the offense. If the defendant’s conduct [describe] was an accident, then
the defendant did not have the required mental state to commit the crime.
An accident is a sudden and unexpected event that occurs without the
defendant’s intent. That is, an accident is an event that the defendant did not
foresee or plan. An accident is an event that occurs as the result of carelessness,
lack of awareness, or ignorance, and the event produces an unfortunate result.
If the evidence of an accident raises a reasonable doubt about the
defendant's guilt, you must give the defendant the benefit of that doubt and find
the defendant not guilty.
Provenance
- Source
- courts.delaware.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-23
- Edition
- crim-2022-03-14
- Content hash
f6dca0b2d88db61cdaf64e0a0ea8c8bb6617f17f987f2ad24e920df0602f9bff
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