VA · jury_instructions
Va. Model Jury Instr. Crim. No. 33.200(a)
First Degree Murder
The defendant is charged with the crime of first degree murder. The Commonwealth must
prove beyond a reasonable doubt each of the following elements of that crime:
(1) That the defendant killed (name of person); and
(2) That the killing was malicious; and
(3) That the killing [was willful, deliberate and premeditated; occurred by poison; occurred by lying in
wait; occurred by imprisonment; occurred by starving].
If you find from the evidence that the Commonwealth has proved beyond a reasonable doubt
each of the above elements of the crime as charged, then you shall find the defendant guilty [but
you shall not fix the punishment until your verdict has been returned and further evidence has been heard
by you].
If you find that the Commonwealth has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt any one or
more of the elements of the crime, then you shall find the defendant not guilty of first degree
murder.
History
Virginia Model Jury Instructions – Criminal, Release 26, October 2025. 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
- crim-2025-10-01
- Content hash
63e99eee593bc34293abe17451d95f6cd8cd7d7a091df43e194b28a5e456f143
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