Vermont Model Criminal Jury Instructions CR40-351

The State has charged (Def)_______________ with [selling] [dispensing] heroin, as follows:

[Read the charge.]

Every crime is made up of essential elements. Before (Def)_______________ can be found guilty of the charge, the State must have proven each of the essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt. In this case, the essential elements are that on the date and at the place alleged,

(1) (Def)_______________;

(2) [sold] [dispensed] heroin; and

(3) [he] [she] did so knowingly and unlawfully.

The first essential element is that (Def)_______________ is the person who committed the alleged acts.

The second essential element is that (Def)_______________ [sold] [dispensed] heroin.

[To sell heroin means to transfer it in exchange for something of value. A sale may include trading, bartering or exchanging the heroin for something else that has value. It also may include an offer or an express or implied promise to trade, barter or exchange the heroin for something of value. It does not matter whether the transaction was done by someone acting on his or her own behalf, or whether it was done by someone acting as an agent or employee on behalf of someone else.]

[To dispense means to distribute, leave with, give away, dispose of, or deliver.]

The term heroin includes every substance not chemically or physically distinguishable from it and preparations containing heroin or its derivatives, by whatever name identified and whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of vegetable origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, as designated by the board of health by rule.

Here the State alleges that (Def)_______________ [sold] [dispensed] heroin, by (specific acts)_______________.

The last essential element is that (Def)_______________ [sold] [dispensed] the heroin knowingly and unlawfully. The word knowingly means that (Def)_______________ [sold] [dispensed] the heroin voluntarily and consciously, and not inadvertently, because of mistake, or by accident. The State must have proven that (Def)_______________ knew that the drug [he] [she] [sold] [dispensed] [contained] [was] heroin at the time [he] [she] [sold] [dispensed] it. The word unlawfully means that (Def)_______________ deliberately did something which the law forbids. In determining whether (Def)_______________ [sold] [dispensed] heroin knowingly and unlawfully, you should consider all of the surrounding facts and circumstances.

All of the elements of the offense must have been present at the same time. If the State has not proven each of the essential elements of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt, then you must find (Def)_______________ not guilty. However, if the State has proven all of the essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt, you must return a verdict of guilty.