NY · jury_instructions
CJI2d[NY] Voluntary Act
Voluntary Act
Liability for criminal conduct requires, at a minimum, the commission of a "voluntary act." A “voluntary act” means a bodily movement performed consciously as a result of effort or determination [and includes the possession of property if the actor was aware of his or her physical possession or control thereof for a sufficient period to have been able to terminate it].
As you are aware, the defendant contends that he/she did not commit a voluntary act because (specify; e.g. he/she was administered (specify; e.g. alcohol or a drug) against his/ her will) and he/she was thereby
Select appropriate alternative(s)
deprived of the ability to perform a bodily movement consciously as a result of effort or determination;
deprived of the ability to be aware of the physical possession or control of (specify) for a sufficient period to have been able to terminate it,
The People must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed a “voluntary act,” and in doing so, committed all the elements of (the crimes charged or specify). If the People fail to prove beyond a reasonable doubt either that the defendant committed a “voluntary act,” or that the defendant committed all of the elements of (specify), then you must find the defendant not guilty of that/those crime(s).
History
Caption: Voluntary Act. 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
2414db5c109ac9122a4088eb52b62361ff01c7a0e960c858ceb2ec4d7f62eea1
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