MS · jury_instructions
Proposed Mississippi Plain Language Model Jury Instructions - Civil 1205
Assault – Defense of Other People – General Instruction and Verdict Form
[Name of defendant] claims that [he/she] is not legally responsible for [name of
plaintiff]’s [harm/injury/injuries] because [name of defendant] was defending [name of person
who defendant was allegedly defending] from an assault by [name of plaintiff]. To establish this
claim, [name of defendant] must prove all of the following are more likely true than not true:
1. [Name of defendant] reasonably believed that [name of plaintiff] was about to commit an
assault against [name of person who defendant was allegedly defending]; and
2. [Name of defendant] used the amount of force that was reasonably necessary to protect [name
of person who defendant was allegedly defending].
Verdict Form
We answer the questions submitted to us as follows:
1. Did [name of defendant] reasonably believe that [name of plaintiff] was about to commit an
assault against [name of person who defendant was allegedly defending]?
YES _______ NO _______
If your answer to question 1 is YES, then answer question 2. If you answered NO, stop
here and tell the bailiff.
2. Did [name of defendant] use the amount of force that was reasonably necessary to protect
[name of person who defendant was allegedly defending]?
YES _______ NO _______
If your answers to questions 1-2 are YES, then you must find in favor of [name of
defendant] on [his/her] claim of defense of another person.
After you have filled out the verdict form, please tell the bailiff that you have reached a verdict.
History
Proposed Mississippi Plain Language Model Jury Instructions - Civil 1205 (current as of February 17, 2012). Submitted in 2012 by the Mississippi Model Jury Instructions Commission (created by the Supreme Court of Mississippi by order of December 30, 2008) and published by the Court on courts.ms.gov. The Court states that these model jury instructions have not been adopted or approved by the Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Provenance
- Source
- courts.ms.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-25
- Edition
- 2026-09-25
- Content hash
d7c0b60650628487a31682dfc11763b46dd1bba1a7b6a6dc7791c933ee38142f
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