VT · jury_instructions
Vermont Model Criminal Jury Instructions CR05-801
LOST EVIDENCE
There has been testimony in this trial that the [police] [State’s lab] [lost] [failed to preserve] evidence which they [collected] [had in their possession] during the investigation of this case. I shall refer to all such evidence as “lost evidence.”
An absence of evidence may form the basis for a reasonable doubt. If you find that the [police] [State’s lab] [lost] [failed to preserve] important evidence which might have helped (Def)_______________, and if you find that the State has not provided a satisfactory explanation for the loss, then you may draw an inference that the lost evidence would have been favorable to (Def)_______________. You are not required to draw any inference. You should consider all of the evidence in the case and give it the weight you think it deserves.
History
Vermont Model Criminal Jury Instructions CR05-801 (06/09/03). Prepared by the Vermont Model Criminal Jury Instructions committee; published on vtjuryinstructions.org, sponsored by the Vermont Bar Association. The committee states that the instructions have not been approved by the Vermont Supreme Court.
Provenance
- Source
- vtjuryinstructions.org
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-25
- Edition
- 2026-09-25
- Content hash
b3c4039e895171d3b4de7f811adec0072f8633b4c06798f2a22c360a094a0f3b
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