3d Cir. Model Jury Instr. (Criminal) 3.04

As I stated in my preliminary instructions at the beginning of the trial, in

deciding what the facts are you must decide what testimony you believe and what

testimony you do not believe. You are the sole judges of the credibility of the

witnesses. Credibility refers to whether a witness is worthy of belief: Was the

witness truthful? Was the witness’ testimony accurate? You may believe

everything a witness says, or only part of it, or none of it.

You may decide whether to believe a witness based on his or her behavior and

manner of testifying, the explanations the witness gave, and all the other evidence in

the case, just as you would in any important matter where you are trying to decide if

a person is truthful, straightforward, and accurate in his or her recollection. In

deciding the question of credibility, remember to use your common sense, your good

judgment, and your experience.

In deciding what to believe, you may consider a number of factors:

(1) The opportunity and ability of the witness to see or hear or know the

things about which the witness testified;

(2) The quality of the witness’ knowledge, understanding, and memory;

(3) The witness’ appearance, behavior, and manner while testifying;

(4) Whether the witness has an interest in the outcome of the case or any

motive, bias, or prejudice;

(5) Any relation the witness may have with a party in the case and any effect

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the verdict may have on the witness;

(6) Whether the witness said or wrote anything before trial that was different

from the witness’ testimony in court;

(7) Whether the witness’ testimony was consistent or inconsistent with other

evidence that you believe [alternative: how believable the witness’ testimony was

when considered with other evidence that you believe]; and

(8) Any other factors that bear on whether the witness should be believed.

Inconsistencies or discrepancies in a witness’ testimony or between the

testimony of different witnesses may or may not cause you to disbelieve a witness’

testimony. Two or more persons witnessing an event may simply see or hear it

differently. Mistaken recollection, like failure to recall, is a common human

experience. In weighing the effect of an inconsistency, you should also consider

whether it was about a matter of importance or an insignificant detail. You should

also consider whether the inconsistency was innocent or intentional.

You are not required to accept testimony even if the testimony was not

contradicted and the witness was not impeached. You may decide that the witness is

not worthy of belief because of the witness’ bearing and demeanor, or because of the

inherent improbability of the testimony, or for other reasons that are sufficient to

you.

After you make your own judgment about the believability of a witness, you

can then attach to that witness’ testimony the importance or weight that you think it

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deserves.

The weight of the evidence to prove a fact does not necessarily depend on

the number of witnesses who testified or the quantity of evidence that was

presented. What is more important than numbers or quantity is how believable the

witnesses were, and how much weight you think their testimony deserves.