5th Cir. Pattern Jury Instr. (Criminal) 2.12

18 U.S.C. § 242

Title 18, United States Code, Section 242, makes it a crime for anyone, acting under color

of law, willfully to deprive any person of a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United

States.

For you to find the defendant guilty of this crime, you must be convinced that the

government has proved each of the following beyond a reasonable doubt:

First: That the defendant deprived the person, ( name alleged victim), of a right

secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States by committing one or more of the acts

charged in the indictment;

Second: That the defendant acted willfully, that is, that the defendant committed such act

or acts with a bad purpose to disobey or disregard the law, specifically intending to deprive the

person of that right; and

Third: That the defendant acted under color of law.

[Fourth: That bodily injury resulted from the defendant’s conduct.]

[Fourth: That the defendant ’s conduct included the use, attempted use, or threatened use

of a dangerous weapon, explosive, or fire.]

[Fourth: That (name alleged victim) died as a result of defendant’s

conduct.]

[Fourth: That the defendant ’s conduct included kidnapping [an attempt to kidnap]

[aggravated sexual abuse] [an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse] [an attempt to kill].]

The indictment charges that the defendant deprived (name of victim) of

the following right: (describe, e.g., right to vote, to enjoy equal access to public

accommodations, to due process of law ). You are instructed that this right is one secured by the

Constitution and laws of the United States.

To find that the defendant was acting willfully, it is not necessary for you to find that the

defendant knew the specific Constitutional provision or federal law that his [her] conduct violated.

But the defendant must have a specific intent to deprive the person of a right protected by the

Constitution or federal law.

Acting “under color of law” means acts done under any state law, county or city ordinance,

or other governmental regulation, and acts done according to a custom of some governmental

agency. It means that the defendant acted in his [her] official capacity or else claimed to do so, but

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abused or misused his [her] power by going beyond the bounds of lawful authority. [A private

citizen acts “under color of law” if that person willfully participates in joint activity with someone

that person knows to be a public official.]

[“Bodily injury” means (A) a cut, abrasion, bruise, burn, or disfigurement ; (B) physical

pain; (C) illness; (D) impairment of a function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty; or

(E) any other injury to the body, no matter how temporary.]

[The government need not prove that the defendant intended for the person to die. The

government must prove that the death was a foreseeable result of the defendant ’s willful

deprivation of the person’s constitutional rights.]

[In the event of an enhancement for aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit

aggravated sexual abuse, include the following:

A person commits “aggravated sexual abuse” if defendant knowingly causes another

person to engage in a sexual act (1) by using force against that other person; or (2) by threatening

or placing that other person in fear that any person will be subjected to death, serious bodily injury,

or kidnapping.

The term “sexual act” means: (A) contact between the penis and the vulva or the penis and

the anus; (B) contact between the mouth and the penis, the mouth and the vulva, or the mouth and

the anus; (C) the penetration, however slight, of the anal or genital opening of another by a hand

or finger or by any object, with an intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify

the sexual desire of any person; or (D) the intentional touching, not through the clothing, of the

genitalia of another person who has not attained the ag e of 16 years with an intent to abuse,

humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.

To find that the defendant used force, you need not find that the defendant was violent. A

defendant uses force within the meaning of “aggravated sexual abuse” when defendant employs

restraint sufficient to prevent the alleged victim from escaping sexual conduct, or the use of a threat

of harm sufficient to coerce or compel submission by the alleged victim. Force can also be implied

from a disparity in size and coercive power between the defendant and the alleged victim. It is not

necessary to find that the defendant used actual violence against the defendant ’s alleged victim.

Consent that is the product of official intimidation, harassment, or coercion is not true consent at

all.]