NC · jury_instructions
N.C.P.I.—Crim. 238.11.1
CREATING, BUYING, PROCURING, OR POSSESSING OBSCENE MATERIAL WITH THE INTENT TO DISSEMINATE IN THE PRESENCE OF A MINOR. FELONY.
The defendant has been charged with [creating] [buying] [procuring]
[possessing] obscene material, with the intent to disseminate in the presence
of a minor.
For you to find the defendant guilty of this offense, the State must prove
four things beyond a reasonable doubt:
First, that the defendant was a [person 18 years or older] [firm]
[corporation].
Second, that the defendant knowingly [created] [bought] [procured]
[possessed] obscene material.
Material is obscene when judged with reference to ordinary adults:
a. The average person applying contemporary community standards
would find that the material depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently
offensive way (define sexual conduct pertinent to the case as set out by the
statute1). Material is patently offensive when, taken as a whole, it affronts
contemporary community standards relating to the description or
representation of sexual matters.
b. And, the average person applying contemporary community
standards relating to the depiction or description of sexual matters would find
that the material taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest in sex. A
prurient interest is an unhealthy, abnormal, lascivious, shameful or morbid
sexual interest.
Contemporary community standards must be interpreted as the current
standards here in your community.2 Both of these tests of obscenity that I
have related to you must be considered and judged with reference to the
average adult in this community, rather than the most tolerant or the most
prudish.
The obscene character of the materials, if any, may be determined by
you, based on the viewing of the alleged obscene material. In addition to
considering all of the evidence presented, you are entitled to draw on your
understanding and knowledge of the views of the average adult person in this
community and of the tolerance of the average adult person in this community
in making the required determinations which are necessary for the resolution
of this case.
In determining whether certain material is obscene, you should consider
the entire (describe material, e.g., "film") as a whole and not part by part.
You may also consider whether the predominant theme and purpose of the
material, when viewed as a whole and not part by part, is an appeal to the
prurient interest of the average adult person in your community.
c. And, applying the reasonable person standard, you find that the
material taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific
value.3
Third, that the defendant acted with the purpose and intent4 of
disseminating the obscene material unlawfully, and that the defendant knew
the nature and content of the material.5 (It is not necessary that he intended
or believed the material to be obscene.)
Material is disseminated by:
a. [selling] [offering to sell] [agreeing to sell]
b. [delivering] [offering to deliver] [agreeing to deliver]
c. [providing] [offering to provide] [agreeing to provide]
d. [presenting] [directing] a [play] [dance] [performance] or
[participating directly in that portion of a [play] [dance]
[performance] which makes it obscene]
e. [publishing] [exhibiting] or [making available]
f. 1. [exhibiting] [offering to exhibit] [agreeing to exhibit]
2. [presenting] [offering to present] [agreeing to present]
3. [renting] [offering to rent] [agreeing to rent]
4. [selling] [offering to sell] [agreeing to sell]
5. [delivering] [offering to deliver] [agreeing to deliver]
6. [providing] [offering to provide] [agreeing to provide]
any [writing] [picture] [record] [representation or embodiment] [still
(or) motion picture] [film] [filmstrip] [projection slide] [sound recording]
[sound tape] [sound track].
And Fourth, that the defendant knowingly did so in the presence of a
minor under 18 years of age.
If you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that on or
about the alleged date the defendant was a [person 18 years or older] [firm]
[corporation], that the defendant knowingly [created] [bought] [procured]
[possessed] obscene material, that the defendant acted intentionally with the
purpose of disseminating such obscene material unlawfully, and that the
defendant knowingly did so in the presence of a minor under 18 years of age,
it would be your duty to return a verdict of guilty. If you do not so find or have
a reasonable doubt as to one or more of these things, it would be your duty
to return a verdict of not guilty.
NOTE WELL: Simple possession or purchase of obscenity does not
violate the statute. A violation occurs when the possession or the
purchase is with the intent and for the purpose of disseminating
obscenity.
History
N.C.P.I.—Crim. 238.11.1 (March 2024). N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.1(e) and (g). Prepared by the North Carolina Conference of Superior Court Judges' Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions, assisted by the UNC School of Government; published by the School of Government.
Provenance
- Source
- sog.unc.edu
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-25
- Edition
- 2026-09-24
- Content hash
4e8cd2ec5776c116965b43500d7b8d63cbe332316a6d4670f74b1e78dd70aca3
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