VA · jury_instructions
Va. Model Jury Instr. Crim. No. 33.810
Self-Defense—Defendant With Fault—Retreat to Wall
If you believe that the defendant was to some degree at fault in provoking or bringing on the
[fight; difficulty], but you further believe that:
(1) he retreated as far as he safely could under the circumstances in a good faith attempt to
abandon the fight; and
(2) he made known his desire for peace by word or act; and
(3) he reasonably feared, under the circumstances as they appeared to him, that he was in
imminent danger of being killed or that he was in imminent danger of great bodily harm; and
(4) he used no more force, under the circumstances as they appeared to him, than was reasonably
necessary to protect himself from the perceived harm,
then the killing was in self-defense, and you shall find the defendant not guilty.
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
6637b2f173feed8259c7792f52169ff636f591a6322c0e2eb4e08a329043e1d7
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