NY · jury_instructions
CJI2d[NY] Dying Declaration
DYING DECLARATION
As you are aware, there was testimony that the deceased, (specify name), made a statement when he/she was under a sense of impending death, with no hope of recovery.
While the law permits that testimony, experience shows that such testimony is not always true and that dying persons have made self-serving declarations, such as false accusations in order to destroy their enemies, and false excuses in order to save their friends.
Thus, our law instructs that such testimony, as with all testimony, be carefully evaluated, and further that such testimony not be accorded the same value and weight as the testimony of a witness, given under oath, in open court, and subject to cross-examination.
History
Caption: DYING DECLARATION. Read from the committee's Word file. Prepared by the New York State Unified Court System Committee on Criminal Jury Instructions, Model Colloquies, and Evidence Rules; published by the Unified Court System at nycourts.gov (the internet edition is the only current and official publication of CJI2d).
Provenance
- Source
- nycourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-25
- Edition
- 2026-09-25
- Content hash
932079cf7607fc98d948217c6f23df9b5532e7c01b488a9339a0959a633378f0
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