NY · jury_instructions
CJI2d[NY] Mental Disease or Defect Negates Mens Rea
Mental Disease or Defect Negating a Mens Rea
Note: Evidence of a mental disease or defect that is not offered in support of an insanity defense may yet be admitted to negate a mens rea element.¹ This instruction should follow the recitation of the count(s) to which it applies. In giving the following instruction, a court may wish to consider combining it with the instruction on the CJI2d “Expanded Charge on Intent” set forth in the General Applicability section.
Instruction
[As you are aware,] the defendant contends that the People have not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had the required state of mind, that is, (specify: e.g. an intent to cause [serious physical injury / death] to [specify]) because of the effect of a mental disease [or defect].
A mental disease [or defect] does not necessarily preclude a person from forming the state of mind required for the commission of a crime. A person may have a mental disease [or defect] and yet be capable of forming the state of mind required for the commission of a crime.
On the other hand, a person may have a mental disease [or defect] that is of such a serious nature and degree that it renders that person incapable of forming the state of mind required for the commission of a crime.
In determining whether the People have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant engaged in the conduct charged in count(s) (specify) with the required state of mind, you may consider whether the People have failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant possessed the required state of mind because of a mental disease [or defect]. If the People have failed to do so, you must find the defendant not guilty of [specify count(s) and name of crime(s)].
History
Caption: Mental Disease or Defect Negating a Mens Rea. 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
1ca57b7f7f7499fe893a2dc2544df460c949f2cc7bcccc72eb11116744bc76e5
The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.
Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.