MS · jury_instructions
Proposed Mississippi Plain Language Model Jury Instructions - Criminal 507
Justifiable Homicide - “Castle Doctrine”
[Name of defendant]’s act of killing [name of victim] is justifiable if [name of defendant]
killed [name of victim] while resisting [name of victim]’s attempt to unlawfully kill [name of
defendant] or to commit a serious crime against [name of defendant] and while [name of
defendant] was in _______________ [specify dwelling, occupied vehicle, business, place of
employment, or the immediate area of a dwelling, occupied vehicle, business, or place of
employment].
[Name of defendant] is presumed to have reasonably feared death, great bodily harm, or a
serious crime being committed against [him/her] if [name of victim]
________________________ [specify (1) was unlawfully and forcibly entering; (2) had
unlawfully and forcibly entered; or (3) was removing or had unlawfully removed [name of
defendant] from] _______________ [specify dwelling, occupied vehicle, business, place of
employment, or the immediate area of a dwelling, occupied vehicle, business, or place of
employment]. This presumption does not apply if [name of victim] had a right to be in the
_____________ [specify dwelling, occupied vehicle, business, place of employment, or the
immediate area of a dwelling, occupied vehicle, business, or place of employment] or if [name of
defendant] was committing a criminal act.
If you find from the evidence in this case that [name of defendant]’s act of killing [name
of victim] was committed while resisting [name of victim]’s attempt to unlawfully kill [name of
defendant] or commit a felony against [name of defendant] and while [name of defendant] was in
the _______________ [specify dwelling, occupied vehicle, business, place of employment or the
immediate area of a dwelling, occupied vehicle, business, or place of employment], then you
shall find [name of defendant] not guilty of ___________ [specify crime charged].
History
Proposed Mississippi Plain Language Model Jury Instructions - Criminal 507 (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
c879d0481ed91d220521ed8681446dce5dba9a0f9a9344bdb43d82c9e6dc840a
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