VA · jury_instructions
Va. Model Jury Instr. Crim. No. 37.360
Assault and Battery Against a Family or Household Member—Third or Subsequent Offense
The defendant is charged with the crime of assault and battery against a family or household
member, third or subsequent offense. The Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt
each of the following elements of that crime:
(1) That the defendant committed an assault and battery against (name of person); and
(2) That (name of person) was [the defendant’s (applicable family or household member under Va.
Code Ann. § 16.1-228); and
(3) That the defendant has at least two prior convictions against a family or household member of
[(i) assault and battery against a family or household member, (ii) malicious or unlawful wounding (iii)
aggravated malicious wounding, (iv) malicious wounding by means of a substance, (v) strangulation, or
(vi) an offense under the law of any other jurisdiction which has the same elements of any of the above
offenses, in any combination]; and
(4) That each such prior offense occurred on a different date within 20 years of the current
offense.
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 of
assault and battery of a [family; household] member, third or subsequent offense [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 proved beyond a reasonable doubt the first two
elements of the crime as charged, but you find that the Commonwealth has failed to prove beyond
a reasonable doubt either or both of the remaining elements, you shall find the defendant guilty of
assault and battery of a family or household member [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 proved beyond a reasonable doubt the first element of
the crime as charged, but you find that the Commonwealth has failed to prove that the person
assaulted was a family or household member, then you shall find the defendant guilty of assault
and battery [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 the first
element of the offense, 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
a92ea64b7925a625cb474d2ace311386bc802ab707e38af91e92195c9e390a11
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