Revised 12/3/01
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT -
UPON LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
(NEGLIGENT INFLICTION
OF BODILY INJURY
WITH A DEADLY WEAPON)
(N.J.S.A.
2C:12-1b(5)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g)
Count of
this indictment charges the defendant with aggravated
assault.
(Read appropriate count of
indictment).
The defendant is accused of violating a law that
provides in pertinent part:
A person is guilty of
aggravated assault if (he/she) . . . (n)egligently causes
bodily injury to . . . with a deadly weapon . . . to . . . (a)ny
law enforcement officer acting in the performance of
(his/her) duties while in uniform or exhibiting evidence of
(his/her) authority or because of (his/her) status as a law
enforcement officer.
For you to
find the defendant guilty of this offense, the State must
prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable
doubt:
1. that the defendant negligently caused bodily
injury (insert name of victim);
2. that the defendant caused
bodily injury with a deadly weapon;
3. that (insert name of victim) was a
law-enforcement officer; and
4a. that the defendant knew that (insert
name of victim) was a law-enforcement officer
acting in the performance of (his/her) duties or while in
uniform or exhibiting evidence of (his/her) authority;
or
4b. that the defendant knew that (insert
name of victim) was a law-enforcement officer
and purposely committed the act against (him/her) because of
(his/her) status as a law-enforcement officer.
The first element
that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that
the defendant negligently caused bodily injury to
(insert name of victim).
Bodily injury
means physical pain, illness or any impairment of physical
condition.
A person
acts negligently with respect to a material element of an
offense, such as the infliction of bodily injury, when
(he/she) should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable
risk that the material element exists or will result from
(his/her) conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and
degree that the actor’s failure to perceive it, considering
the nature and purpose of the actor's conduct and the
circumstances known to the actor, involves a gross deviation
from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would
observe in the actor's situation.
Negligence
is a condition of the mind that cannot be seen and that can
often be determined only from inferences from conduct, words
or acts. It is not necessary for the State to produce a
witness to testify that the defendant stated that (he/she)
acted with a particular state of mind. It is within your
power to find that proof of negligence has been furnished
beyond a reasonable doubt by inferences that may arise from
the nature of the acts and circumstances surrounding the
conduct in question.
For you to find
that the defendant caused bodily injury to (insert name
of victim), the State must prove beyond a reasonable
doubt that (he/she) would not have been injured but for the
defendant’s conduct.
The second
element that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt
is that the defendant used a deadly weapon to cause bodily
injury to (insert name of victim)
A deadly weapon
is any firearm or other weapon, device, instrument, material
or substance, whether animate or inanimate, which in the
manner it is used or is intended to be used, is known to be
capable of producing death or serious bodily injury, or
which in the manner it is fashioned would lead the victim
reasonably to believe it to be capable of producing death or
serious bodily injury.
The third element
that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that
(insert name of victim) was a law-enforcement
officer.
A law-enforcement
officer is any person who is employed as a permanent
full-time member of any State, county or municipal
law-enforcement agency, department or division of those
governments and who is statutorily empowered to act for the
detection, investigation, arrest, conviction, detention or
rehabilitation of persons violating the criminal laws of
this state.
The fourth
element that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt
is:
a. that the
defendant knew that (insert name of victim) was a
law-enforcement officer acting in the performance of
(his/her) duties or while in uniform or exhibiting evidence
of (his/her) authority; or
b. that the
defendant knew that (insert name of victim) was a
law-enforcement officer and purposely committed the act
against (him/her) because of (his/her) status as a
law-enforcement officer.
A person acts
purposely with respect to the nature of (his/her) conduct or
a result thereof if it is a person's conscious object to
engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a result.
A person acts purposely with respect to attendant
circumstances if a person is aware of the existence of such
circumstances or a person believes or hopes that they exist.
One can be deemed to be acting purposely if one acts with
design, with a purpose, with a particular object, if one
really means to do what (he/she) does.
A person acts
knowingly with respect to the nature of (his/her) conduct or
the attendant circumstances if a person is aware that
(his/her) conduct is of that nature, or that such
circumstances exist or a person is aware of a high
probability of their existence. A person acts knowingly with
respect to a result of (his/her) conduct if a person is
aware that it is practically certain that (his/her) conduct
will cause such a result. One is said to act knowingly if
one acts with knowledge, if one acts consciously, if
(he/she) comprehends (his/her) acts.
Like negligence,
purpose and knowledge are conditions of the mind that cannot
be seen and that can often be determined only from
inferences from conduct, words or acts.
If you find that
the State has proven every element beyond a reasonable
doubt, then you must find the defendant guilty. If, however,
the State has failed to prove any element beyond a
reasonable doubt, then you must find (him/her) not guilty.
(Where appropriate charge
simple assault as a lesser offense.)
This charge is drafted for
the most common situation, where a defendant is
charged with aggravated assault upon a law
enforcement officer under N.J.S.A.
2C:12-1b(5)(a). Other sections of the statute apply,
with differing language, to aggravated assault upon
paid and volunteer firemen; emergency first-aid and
medical personnel; school board members, school
administrators, teachers and other employees of a
school board; employees of the Division of Youth and
Family Services; the judiciary; and bus drivers and
railroad employees. N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(5)(b)
to (g). As always, the Model Charge must be adapted
to fit the facts of each case.
State v. Green, 318
N.J. Super. 361, 376 (App. Div. 1999), aff’d
o.b., 163 N.J. 140 (2000) (the defendant
must know that the victim is a law-enforcement
officer).
If transferred intent is an
issue, the charge should be modified accordingly.
State in the Interest of S.B., 333 N.J. Super.
236, 243 (App. Div. 2000).
N.J.S.A. 2C:2-3a(1).
If causation is contested, a fuller explanation of
causation may be needed. N.J.S.A. 2C:2-3.
