MS · jury_instructions
Proposed Mississippi Plain Language Model Jury Instructions - Criminal 508
Mistake of Fact
The defendant has presented evidence that [he/she] was ignorant or made a mistake of
fact. Ignorance or a mistake of fact is a legal defense to a crime provided that:
1. The defendant honestly believed the mistake of fact;
2. The defendant’s conduct would have been lawful and proper if the facts had been as [he/she]
believed them to be; and
3. The defendant’s mistaken belief was not based on [his/her] own negligence or fault.
If the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence in this case that
the defendant acted knowing the true facts or that the defendant was responsible for making the
mistake of fact, then you shall find the defendant not guilty of ________________ [specify crime
charged].
Definition(s) in this Instruction:
In this instruction, “negligence” means doing something that a reasonably careful person
would not do under similar circumstances or failing to do something that a reasonably careful
person would do under similar circumstances.
History
Proposed Mississippi Plain Language Model Jury Instructions - Criminal 508 (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
69e528a0f7ed34efb9d2f40fab5e6be73459128c6726da1532d94098c094bd19
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