VA · jury_instructions
Va. Model Jury Instr. Crim. No. 35.540
Making False Emergency Communication to Emergency Personnel That Results in a Death
The defendant is charged with the crime of giving a false emergency report to emergency
personnel that resulted in a death. The Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt
each of the following elements of that crime:
(1) That the defendant knowingly reported an emergency [caused someone else, in reliance upon the
defendant’s information, to report an emergency]; and
(2) That the defendant knew the report was false; and
(3) That the report was communicated to emergency personnel; and
(4) That the report resulted in an emergency response;
(5) That the report resulted in any person being killed.
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 from the evidence that the Commonwealth has proved beyond a reasonable doubt elements
1–4 but not element 5, then you shall find the defendant guilty of making a false emergency
communication to emergency personnel (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
elements 1–4 of the crime, then 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
c37d4b40e2a955ba811dbb12e521f9b26d261af8578490d0bc9ee05170736741
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