VA · jury_instructions
Va. Model Jury Instr. Crim. No. 52.500
Self-Defense—Defendant Without Fault
If you believe that the defendant was without fault in provoking or bringing on the [fight;
difficulty], and you further believe that:
(1) he reasonably feared, under the circumstances as they appeared to him, that he was in
imminent danger of bodily harm; and
(2) 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 he acted 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
08f48dc8cdf8685aceba2e47a116bc39ae10b82870d4f5ccb5526858b1f581dc
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