N.J. Model Criminal Jury Charge, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(10)

Approved 10/23/00

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT

(POINTING OR DISPLAYING IMITATION FIREARM

AT LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER)

(N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(10))1

Count of this indictment charges the defendant with the crime of aggravated

assault.

(READ INDICTMENT)

The applicable statute provide s, in pertinent part, that:

A person is guilty of aggravated assault if he . . . (k)nowingly

points, displays or uses an imita tion firearm . . . at or in the

direction of a law enforcement officer with the purpose to

intimidate, threaten or attempt to put the officer in fear of bodily

injury or for any unlawful purpose.

In order for you to find the defendant guilt y, the State must prove each of the following

elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. that the defendant knowingly pointed, disp layed or used an imitation firearm at or

in the direction of a law enforcement officer;

2. that the defendant knew that the pe rson was a law enforcement officer; and

3. that the defendant acted with the purpose to intimidate, threaten or attempt to put

the officer in fear of bodily injury or for any unlawful purpose.

The first element that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the

defendant knowingly pointed, displayed or used an imitation firearm at or in the direction of a

law enforcement officer.

An imitation firearm is defined as an obj ect or device reasonably capable of being

1 This statute took eff ect on April 20, 1999.

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT

(POINTING OR DISPLAYING

IMITATION FIREARM AT LAW

ENFORCEMENT OFFICER)

(N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(10))

mistaken for a firearm.2

A firearm is defined as a ny handgun, rifle, shotgun, machine gun, or automatic or semi-automatic rifle.3

A law enforcement officer is a person whose public duties include the power to act as an

officer for the detection, apprehension, arrest and conviction of offenders against the laws of this

State.4

A person acts knowingly with respect to the nature of his/her conduct or the attendant

circumstances if he/she is aware th at his/her conduct is of that na ture or that such circumstances

exist or if he/she is aware of a high probability of their existence. A person acts knowingly with

respect to the result of his/her conduct if he/she is aware that it is practically certain that his/her

conduct will cause such a result.

Knowledge is a condition of the mind that can not be seen and that can be determined

only by inferences from conduct, words or acts. A state of mind is rarely susceptible of direct

proof but must ordinarily be inferred from the fact s. Therefore, it is not necessary that the State

produce witnesses to testify that an accused said that he/she had a certain state of mind when

he/she engaged in a particular act. It is within your power to find that such proof has been

furnished beyond a reasonable doubt by inference, which may arise from the nature of the

defendant’s acts and conduct, from all that he/she said and did at the particular time and place,

and from all surrounding circumstances.

The second element that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the

defendant knew that the person was a law enforcement officer.

As I instructed you earlier, a person acts knowingly with respect to the nature of the

attendant circumstances if he/she is aware that such circumstances exist or if he/she is aware of a

high probability of their existence.

The third element that the State must prove beyond a reasonabl e doubt is that the

defendant acted with the purpose to intimidate, thre aten or attempt to put the officer in fear of

2 N.J.S.A. 2C:39-1v.

3 N.J.S.A. 2C:39-1f.

4 Cf. N.J.S.A. 2C:25-19c.

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT

(POINTING OR DISPLAYING

IMITATION FIREARM AT LAW

ENFORCEMENT OFFICER)

(N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(10))

bodily injury or for any unlawful purpose.

A person acts with purpose with respect to the nature of his/her conduct or a result

thereof if it is his/her conscious object to engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a

result. A person acts with purpose with respect to attendant circumstances if he/she believes or

hopes that they exist. A person acts with purpos e if he/she acts with design, with a specific

intent, with a particular object or purpose, or if he/she means to do what he/she does. As with

knowledge, purpose is a condition of the mind that cannot be seen and that can be determined

only by inferences from conduct, words or acts.

A person has a purpose to us e an imitation firearm unlawfull y if he/she has a purpose to

use it in a manner that is prohibited by law. In th is case, the State conte nds that the defendant’s

unlawful purpose was [describe the unlawful purpose alleged by the State].

5

[If the defense alleges a lawful purpose, th e trial court should instruct the jury on

the defense claim. See, for example, the mode l charge for Possession of a Firearm for an

Unlawful Purpose, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a.

You must not rely on your own notions of the unlawfulness of some other undescribed

purpose of the defendant. Rather, you must consid er whether the State proved the specific

unlawful purpose alleged. 6 The unlawful purpose alleged by the State may be inferred from all

that was said or done and from all of the surro unding circumstances in this case. However, the

State need not prove that the defendant accomplished his/her unlawful purpose.

Bodily injury is defined as physical pain, illness or any impairment of physical

condition.7

If you find that the State has proved each a nd every element of this offense beyond a

reasonable doubt, then you must find the defendant guilty of aggravated assault. If, however,

you find that the State has failed to prove any element of this offense beyond a reasonable doubt,

then you must find the defendant not guilty.

5 State v. Villar, 150 N.J. 503, 511 (1997).

6 State v. Jenkins, 234 N.J. Super. 311, 316 (App. Div. 1989). See also, State v. Villar, supra.

7 N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1d.