Legal Question in Criminal Law in Washington

Re: Elements of charged crime omitted on jury instructions

Washington courts generally follow the Washington Pattern Jury Instructions (WPICs for short) when deciding the right way to instruct a jury in a criminal case. Usually, but not always, the prosecutor will submit something called a �to convict� instruction which contains each and every element of the crime that the jury must find to be established by the evidence beyond all reasonable doubt.

To quickly answer your question, it�s not okay to omit a required element of a crime when instructing a jury. To do so would be error and the defense should object to the instructions on the grounds that they are prejudicial. This is because the omission of an essential element might favor the prosecution � making it easier to convict the defendant.

It�s interesting that you would ask such a question. If you are the defendant charged in this case with assault with a deadly weapon � a felony in Washington State � you definitely need a defense attorney. If you do not, and you are now in a jury trial and laboring over jury instructions, you should immediately ask the judge for a delay so you can obtain counsel.