THE SHELLOW COLLECTION
Jury Instructions By James M. Shellow of Wisconsin
Go to Shellow Collection Table of Contents

Venue

    1.    Venue Generally
    2.    Venue For Conspiracy
    3.    Change Of Venue

THE SHELLOW COLLECTION
Jury Instructions By James M. Shellow of Wisconsin

1.    Venue Generally

ALERT: Carefully review the Caveats and Disclaimers before using these materials.

    If you conclude that the government has proven all elements of the charge in Count ____, but you find that one defendant or the other, or both, made the charged false representations in _________ (first location), you must find the defendants not guilty of Count _____, because trying and convicting them in _________ (second location) for that conduct would violate the United States Constitution.

U.S. Const., Art. III, §2; United States v. Johnson, 323 U.S. 273, 276 (1944); Fed. R. Crim. P. 18; United States v. Greene, 994 F.2d 793, 800-01 (8th Cir. 1993).

See generally NCJIC 257.11 [Venue].

THE SHELLOW COLLECTION
Jury Instructions By James M. Shellow of Wisconsin

2.    Venue For Conspiracy

ALERT: Carefully review the Caveats and Disclaimers before using these materials.

    To convict the defendant on the conspiracy charge in Count ____, you must find by a preponderance of the evidence that the offense charged in Count _____ occurred in the _________ (jurisdiction/location).

    A conspiracy occurs where the agreement is formed, where a defendant joins the agreement, or where an overt act in furtherance of the agreement is begun, continued, or completed.

See also THE SHELLOW COLLECTION: Conspiracy.

See NCJIC Chapter 83: Conspiracy.

See NCJIC 83.3.1.7 [Conspiracy: Defense Theory That Agreement Or Overt Act Did Not Occur In The Venue Where The Charges Were Brought].

See NCJIC 257.10.2 [Territorial Jurisdiction: Crime Consummated, Or Some Acts Committed, Outside Of The State].

See generally NCJIC 257.11 [Venue].

THE SHELLOW COLLECTION
Jury Instructions By James M. Shellow of Wisconsin

3.    Change Of Venue

ALERT: Carefully review the Caveats and Disclaimers before using these materials.

    As you know, this case did not arise in __________ County. It is common for judges to move trials when a case generates such discussion locally that potential jurors probably have formed definite opinions before they have heard a word of testimony. You have an obligation to decide the case for both parties solely on the basis of the evidence introduced in this courtroom, and that includes not speculating about why I decided a trial in _____________ County might be unfair to the prosecution or unfair to __________ (name of defendant).

    As you know, __________ (name of defendant) was found in _________ County, not in _________ County. Originally, the trial was scheduled to take place in ____________ County.

    I moved the trial to __________ because I concluded that the parties would have a fairer trial if the trial was somewhere other than ____________.

    You may not speculate why I made this decision or whether I believed that a trial in ____________ would be unfair to the prosecution or unfair to the defense.

See generally NCJIC 257.11 [Venue].