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WPIC 120.04 Making a False or Misleading Statement to a Public Servant—Elements

11A WAPRAC WPIC 120.04Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Criminal

11A Wash. Prac., Pattern Jury Instr. Crim. WPIC 120.04 (5th Ed)
Washington Practice Series TM
Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Criminal
January 2024 Update
Washington State Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions
Part XIII. Miscellaneous Crimes
WPIC CHAPTER 120. Obstructing Governmental Operation
WPIC 120.04 Making a False or Misleading Statement to a Public Servant—Elements
To convict the defendant of the crime of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant, each of the following elements of the crime must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt:
(1) That on or about (date), the defendant made a false or misleading statement to a public servant;
(2) That the statement was material;
(3) That the defendant knew both that the statement was material and that it was false or misleading; and
(4) That this act occurred in the [State of Washington] [City of ] [County of ].
If you find from the evidence that each of these elements has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, then it will be your duty to return a verdict of guilty.
On the other hand, if, after weighing all of the evidence, you have a reasonable doubt as to any one of these elements, then it will be your duty to return a verdict of not guilty.
NOTE ON USE
With this instruction use WPIC 2.22 (Public Servant—Definition), WPIC 120.04.01 (Making a False or Misleading Statement to a Public Servant—Material—Definition), and WPIC 10.02 (Knowledge—Knowingly—Definition).
In element (4) choose from among the bracketed phrases depending on whether the case is in superior, municipal, or district court. See WPIC 4.20 (Introduction). For a discussion of the phrase “this act” in element (4), see WPIC 4.20 (Introduction) and the Note on Use to WPIC 4.21 (Elements of the Crime—Form).
COMMENT
RCW 9A.76.175.
Materiality as defined in WPIC 120.04.01 (Making a False or Misleading Statement to a Public Servant—Material—Definition) is based on the statutory definition of “material statement” in RCW 9A.76.175 rather than on a generally applicable definition.
In State v. Godsey, 131 Wn.App. 278, 290–91, 127 P.3d 11 (2006), the court held that lying about one's identity to a police officer during a traffic stop can qualify as a false or misleading statement for purposes of RCW 9A.76.175.
[Current as of September 2019.]
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