VA · jury_instructions
Va. Model Jury Instr. Crim. No. 42.240
Escape—Voluntarily Allowing Person Charged with Felony or Felon to Escape
The defendant is charged with the crime of voluntarily allowing a prisoner to escape. The
Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt each of the following elements of that
crime:
(1) That the defendant was [a sheriff; a jailer; an officer; a guard; an employee of a sheriff, jailer or
other officer]; and
(2) That the defendant had in his custody a prisoner [detained on a charge of a felony; convicted of a
felony]; and
(3) That the defendant voluntarily allowed the prisoner to escape.
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.
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
6b70d45a5b724f332701ee509d843761ab6ccb63c7918aab0b45390db0538b2d
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