VA · jury_instructions
Va. Model Jury Instr. Civ. No. 37.090
Finding Instruction (for use with Instruction No. 37.000)
You shall return your verdict for the plaintiff if the plaintiff has proved by the greater weight of
the evidence that:
(1) defendant made the following statement: (words of statement); and
(2) it was [heard; seen] by someone other than the plaintiff; and
(3) it was about the plaintiff; and
(4) it was false; and
if the plaintiff further proved by clear and convincing evidence
(5) that the defendant knew the statement was false or made it so recklessly as to amount to a
willful disregard for the truth, that is, with a high degree of awareness that the statement was
probably false. [; and
(6) that the defendant abused his privilege to make a defamatory statement, as described in Instruction
No. ______ (Instruction No. 37.050)]
You shall find your verdict for the defendant if the plaintiff failed to prove any one or more of
the (number of elements) elements above.
History
Virginia Model Jury Instructions – Civil, Release 26, April 2026. The unannotated set, posted by the Supreme Court of Virginia at vacourts.gov; the book states that it is made available with the permission of the publisher, Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.
Provenance
- Source
- vacourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-11
- Edition
- civ-2026-04-01
- Content hash
1175bbf9025a51d7b56ec082e15d8a7d67993dfcd527a01308d514a9d449a636
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