2.01d Separate Consideration -- Multiple Defendants Charged With Different Crimes

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

2.01D SEPARATE CONSIDERATION--MULTIPLE DEFENDANTS CHARGED WITH

DIFFERENT CRIMES

(1) The defendants have been charged with different crimes. I will explain to you in more detail

shortly which defendants have been charged with which crimes. But before I do that, I want to

emphasize several things.

(2) 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.

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

not influence your decision on any of the other defendants or charges.

Use Note

Paragraph (3) should be modified when guilt of one charge is a prerequisite for

conviction of another charge, as in RICO cases involving predicate offenses.

Committee Commentary 2.01D

(current through March 1, 2023)

This instruction combines the various 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 different

crimes.

Paragraph (3) 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).