When the Michigan Supreme Court issued an order making the use of the Michigan Model Criminal Jury Instructions mandatory, effective March 1, 2014, we at ICLE took this opportunity to rethink what should be included in ICLE’s print and online versions of the instructions. After discussions with ICLE’s Criminal Law Advisory Board and other criminal law practitioners, we have added the following features to the instructions that you can quickly review in one place:
- the specific statutory authority for the offense
- a clear statement of the elements for a conviction for each offense
- the penalty for the offense, including the offense class for purposes of the sentencing guidelines
- the collateral consequences that might apply, such as the possible impact on your client’s driver’s license, immigration status, employment, licenses, and benefits
- common lesser-included offenses
- commonly used defenses
- special considerations for handling the defense (including advice, strategies, and practice tips from experienced criminal defense attorneys on evidentiary matters, presenting the defense, distinctions between related offenses, and much more)
These features have been added to the following chapters in the 2014 revised edition (with future coverage planned for remaining chapters):
- Assault
- Breaking and Entering
- Defenses
- Larceny
- Narcotics
- Robbery
- Sex Crimes
- Telecommunications and Computer Offenses
- Traffic Offenses
- Weapons
Practitioners advised us that these features would continue to make ICLE’s Criminal Jury Instructions the “go-to” criminal law publication in Michigan. ICLE’s revised Instructions will continue to include the instructions used by the courts and have detailed legal overviews of the law governing the offense.
ICLE’s Criminal Jury Instructions are available in print (updated once a year) and online. The 2014 print edition with the enhanced commentary will be available in December 2014. The online version includes the ability to choose the instructions you need for downloading and printing, a feature that is available only to ICLE subscribers.
Please feel free to send us comments or suggestions as you use the Instructions.