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WPIC 4.68 Additional Instructions of Law

11 WAPRAC WPIC 4.68Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Criminal

11 Wash. Prac., Pattern Jury Instr. Crim. WPIC 4.68 (5th Ed)
Washington Practice Series TM
Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Criminal
January 2024 Update
Washington State Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions
Part I. General Instructions
WPIC CHAPTER 4.60. Miscellaneous Instructions During Trial
WPIC 4.68 Additional Instructions of Law
I will now give you an additional instruction about the law that governs this case. You will have this additional instruction with you in the jury room. The instruction is:
(Insert text of new instruction. Include the following paragraph as part of the new instruction.)
You are not to give this instruction special importance just because it was read separately. Consider it along with all of the instructions you have received.
You will now return to the jury room to continue your deliberations.
NOTE ON USE
Use this oral instruction for giving additional jury instructions to a jury while it is deliberating. Send the text of the new instruction to the jury room in writing. In addition, the paragraph stating that the jury is to attach no special importance to the new instruction should be included as part of the new written instruction. The defendant and attorneys for each side must be given the opportunity to be present. Unless the additional instruction is by consent of both parties, both sides must be given an opportunity to take exception or object to it. If this instruction is used it should be made a part of the record and a full record must be made of the proceedings.
COMMENT
CrR 6.15(f)(1) and CrRLJ 6.15(e)(1) set out the required procedure for giving additional instructions to a jury while it is deliberating. Whether to give additional instructions is a matter within the discretion of the trial court. State v. Studebaker, 67 Wn.2d 980, 410 P.2d 913 (1966); State v. Langdon, 42 Wn.App. 715, 713 P.2d 120 (1986); State v. Miller, 40 Wn.App. 483, 698 P.2d 1123 (1985). Proposed additional instructions need not be given if an existing instruction properly states the law. Harris v. Groth, 31 Wn.App. 876, 645 P.2d 1104 (1982), affirmed 99 Wn.2d 438, 663 P.2d 113 (1983).
The court may give supplemental instructions whether or not requested by the jury. If necessary, the court may give supplemental instructions on its own motion. State v. Watkins, 99 Wn.2d 166, 660 P.2d 1117 (1983). However, supplemental instructions given after the jury has begun deliberating may not go beyond matters that either were, or could have been, argued to the jury. See State v. Ransom, 56 Wn.App. 712, 785 P.2d 469 (1990) (trial court erred in giving an accomplice liability instruction after deliberations began).
The giving of supplemental instructions to a jury that is deadlocked does not necessarily constitute impermissible coercion to reach a verdict (see WPIC 4.81). Supplemental instructions may, for example, be given for the purpose of clarifying earlier instructions or the verdict forms. See State v. Duhaime, 29 Wn.App. 842, 631 P.2d 964 (1981) (trial court did not err by giving WPIC 10.51, the accomplice instruction, and then later instructing the jury as to its application in response to written questions submitted by the jury). However, the supplemental instructions may not suggest the need to reach a verdict, nor may they suggest the consequences of failing to reach a verdict. State v. Watkins, 99 Wn.2d 166, 660 P.2d 1117 (1983).
For detailed discussions of procedures for handling questions from deliberating jurors, including the defendant's right to be present, see the authorities cited at the end of the Comment to WPIC 151.00 (Basic Concluding Instruction).
The law that is the basis for WPIC 4.68 is covered in detail in Ferguson, 13 Washington Practice, Criminal Practice and Procedure, section 4413 (3d ed.).
[Current as of May 2019.]
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