VA · jury_instructions
Va. Model Jury Instr. Civ. No. 37.097
Finding Instruction (for use with Instruction No. 37.020)
You shall return your verdict for the plaintiff if he has proved by the greater weight of the
evidence that:
(1) the defendant made the following statement: (words of statement); and
(2) it was about the plaintiff; and
(3) it was [heard; seen] by someone other than the plaintiff; and
(4) it was false; and
(5) the defendant made the statement [knowing it to be false; believing it to be true but lacked
reasonable grounds for such belief; acted negligently in failing to ascertain the facts on which the
statement was based]. [; and
if the plaintiff further proved by clear and convincing evidence
(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) element 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
ba41d6988e627f2e88a7d5fefd5d9a96086de94c2d6efbbf74c8dff5304528f2
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