Indiana Pattern Jury Instructions – Criminal
CHAPTER 3 OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON (effective for crimes committed July 1, 2014 or after, unless otherwise noted)

Instruction No. 3.0500. Murder with Lesser Offense of Voluntary Manslaughter.

I.C. 35-42-1-1, I.C. 35-42-1-3.

The crime of murder is defined by law as follows:

A person who knowingly or intentionally kills another human being, commits murder, a felony.

Included in the charge in this case is the crime of voluntary manslaughter, which is defined by law as follows:

A person who knowingly or intentionally kills [another human being] [a fetus in any stage of development] while acting under sudden heat commits voluntary manslaughter, a Level 2 felony.

Sudden heat is a mitigating factor that reduces what otherwise would be murder to voluntary manslaughter. The State has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant was not acting under sudden heat.

Before you may convict the Defendant, the State must have proved each of the following beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. The Defendant
2. knowingly or intentionally
3. killed
4. __________[name human being] [a fetus in any stage of development]
5. and the Defendant was not acting under sudden heat.

If the State failed to prove each of elements 1 through 4 beyond a reasonable doubt, you must find the Defendant not guilty of murder as charged in Count __________.

If the State did prove each of elements 1 through 4 beyond a reasonable doubt, but the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt element 5, you may find the Defendant guilty of voluntary manslaughter, a Level 2 felony, a lesser included offense of Count __________.

If the State did prove each of elements 1 through 5 beyond a reasonable doubt, you may find the Defendant guilty of murder, a felony as charged in Count __________.

 

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