Criminal Jury Instructions for the District of Columbia
Fifth Edition (2014)
II. FINAL INSTRUCTIONS

Instruction 2.303. SUPPRESSION OR FABRICATION OF EVIDENCE, OR ATTEMPTED CHANGE OF APPEARANCE BY DEFENDANT

A. SUPPRESSION OR FABRICATION OF EVIDENCE BY DEFENDANT

You have heard evidence that [name of defendant] may have [attempted to] [insert action]. It is up to you to decide if s/he took these actions and if s/he did so with the intent to [suppress evidence] [fabricate evidence]. If you do find that s/he did so, you may consider this evidence as tending to show his/her feelings of guilt, which you may, in turn, consider as tending to show actual guilt. On the other hand, you may also consider that s/he may have taken these actions for reasons fully consistent with innocence in this case.

If you find that [name of defendant] [attempted to] [suppress[ed] evidence] [fabricate[d] evidence], you should give the evidence as much weight as in your judgment it deserves

B. CHANGE OF APPEARANCE BY DEFENDANT

You have heard evidence that [name of defendant] may have changed his appearance [prior to trial] [prior to an identification procedure] [after the offense]. It is up to you to decide whether (a) [name of defendant] in fact changed his/her appearance, and (b) s/he changed his/her appearance in an effort to avoid being identified.

If you find that [name of defendant] changed his appearance to avoid being identified, you may consider this evidence as tending to show his/her feelings of guilt, which you may, in turn, consider as tending to show actual guilt. On the other hand, you may also consider that s/he may have changed his/her appearance for reasons fully consistent with innocence in this case.

If you find that [name of defendant] changed his/her appearance in an attempt to avoid being identified, you should give the evidence as much weight as in your judgment it deserves.