2.01c Separate Consideration -- Multiple Defendants Charged With The Same Crimes

• Currency: 2023
• Year: 2023
• Section: Chapter 2 Defining The Crime And Related Matters

2.01C SEPARATE CONSIDERATION--MULTIPLE DEFENDANTS CHARGED WITH

THE SAME CRIMES

(1) The defendants have all been charged with several crimes. The number of charges is no

evidence of guilt, and this should not influence your decision in any way. And in our system of

justice, guilt or innocence is personal and individual. It is your duty to separately consider the

evidence against each defendant on each charge, and to return a separate verdict for each one of

them. For each one, you must decide whether the government has presented proof beyond a

reasonable doubt that a particular defendant is guilty of a particular charge.

(2) Your decision on any one defendant or charge, whether it is guilty or not guilty, should not

influence your decision on any of the other defendants or charges.

Use Note

Paragraph (2) should be modified when guilt of one charge is a prerequisite for

conviction of another charge, as in R.I.C.O. cases involving predicate offenses.

Committee Commentary 2.01C

(current through March 1, 2023)

In United States v. Gibbs, 182 F.3d 408, 438 (6th Cir. 1999), the court affirmed

convictions where the trial judge gave an instruction the same as 2.01C except for insignificant

word changes and omission of the first two sentences of the instruction.

This instruction combines the concepts contained in Instructions 2.01A and 2.01B. See

the Committee Commentaries for those instructions for further explanation. It is designed for

use in cases where the indictment charges multiple defendants with the same crimes.

Paragraph (2) should be modified when guilt of one charge is a prerequisite for

conviction of another charge. See for example 18 U.S.C. § 1961 (RICO conviction requires

proof of two predicate offenses).