MN 7.04 Intoxication—Involuntary
10 Minn. Prac., Jury Instr. Guides–Criminal CRIMJIG 7.03 (6th ed.)
July 2016 update
Part I. The General Part
B. General Principles of Criminal Law
Chapter 7. Defenses—Miscellaneous
CRIMJIG 7.04 Intoxication—Involuntary
The defendant has asserted a defense of involuntary intoxication. This defense has the following requirements.
First, the defendant was made so mentally deficient by reason of involuntary intoxication, that the defendant did not understand the nature of the act or that it was wrong. This means that the defendant must have failed to know what the defendant was doing or what the consequences of the act would be, or the defendant must have failed to realize that the act was wrong.
Second, the defendant
[1] was compelled to take the intoxicating substance against the defendant’s will.
[2] was unaware that because of a particular susceptibility to it, the substance would have a grossly excessive intoxicating effect upon the defendant.
[3] was innocently mistaken as to the nature of the substance taken.
[4] became unexpectedly intoxicated as a result of taking a medically prescribed drug.
[Third, the defendant’s intoxication was caused by the intoxicating substance in question and not by some other intoxicant.]
The defendant has the burden of proving each of these requirements by the greater weight of the evidence. This means the defendant must prove that it is more likely true than not true that each requirement has been proven. If the evidence does not lead you to believe that it is more likely that the claim is true than not true, then the claim has not been proven.
The defendant is not guilty of a crime if (he) (she) acted while involuntarily intoxicated.
The State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not involuntarily intoxicated.
