Preliminary Materials

The Washington Pattern Jury Instructions (WPI) Committee operates under the auspices of the Washington Supreme Court, which appoints WPI Committee members from nominees submitted by the Superior Court Judges' Association, District and Municipal Court Judges' Association, Washington State Bar Association, Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, Washington Defenders' Association, Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Washington State Association for Justice, Washington Defense Trial Lawyers, University of Washington School of Law, Seattle University School of Law, Gonzaga University School of Law, and the Administrative Office of the Courts. The Supreme Court also provides oversight of the WPI Committee's financial affairs. While often commending the WPI Committee's work to the bench and bar, the Court does not review the instructions in advance of its case-by-case consideration of them.

In an effort to keep our instructions as current as possible, the WPI Committee often publishes updates when we have finished a suitable group of chapters, rather than holding an update until we have completed our review of an entire volume. For this reason, the instructions are not all current as of the same date. Readers should carefully note the currency date of a particular instruction when researching for any subsequent changes in the law. All new and revised instructions for this supplement are included in the Highlights pages.

We would like to thank each of the WPI Committee members, and our staff attorney, Stephanie Happold, for their countless hours of work, their dedication, and their inspired contributions toward improving the law. We also wish to thank the other members of the bench and bar who served on subcommittees focusing on particular specialized areas of the law. Their contributions greatly improve our work.