MS · jury_instructions
Proposed Mississippi Plain Language Model Jury Instructions - Criminal 502
Duress
The defendant has presented evidence that [he/she] acted under duress while committing
the crime charged. Duress is a legal defense.
Duress is when a person is under unlawful force or pressure to commit an act that the
person ordinarily would not have done in order to avoid an immediate danger. The immediate
danger must exist at that time or be fast-approaching. It must be of such a nature as to force that
person into believing that great bodily harm or death will occur if [he/she] does not commit the
criminal act. A person cannot claim duress if [he/she] had a reasonable opportunity to avoid
committing the criminal act and not be exposed to great bodily harm to [his/her] body or death.
The defendant is not guilty of ___________________ [specify crime charged] if [he/she]
acted under duress. The State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not
act under duress. If the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not
act under duress, then you shall find the defendant not guilty of _____________________
[specify crime charged].
History
Proposed Mississippi Plain Language Model Jury Instructions - Criminal 502 (current as of June 30, 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
ae164ad94935b593d23a41935a84ae1bafeeaddad895c71f6ffb273623454e26
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