Mich. Admin. Ord. Administrative Order No. 2013-13
For decades, criminal jury instructions in Michigan have been developed by the Standing Committee on Jury Instructions, Standard Criminal, of the State Bar of Michigan and then published by the Institute for Continuing Legal Education. The instructions were then made available for purchase. Now, however, recognizing their widespread use and the utility of the instructions for attorneys, litigants, and the courts, and in support of the notion that these materials should be readily available to all users, the Court desires to make use of the instructions mandatory and ensure that they are freely available to all, as are the model civil jury instructions.
In addition to the Court's adoption of proposed amendments of MCR 2.512 that will require the use of criminal jury instructions where appropriate, under this administrative order the Court creates a committee to propose new and to modify existing criminal jury instructions. The Court is appreciative of the long and distinguished service that members of the Standing Committee on Standard Criminal Jury Instructions have provided over the years. Their dedicated service has produced a set of criminal jury instructions that has become a valuable tool in criminal proceedings. The Court also acknowledges the generous decision by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education to relinquish its copyright over the instructions, thus enabling this Court to make the instructions and much of their accompanying materials available to everyone for no charge on the Court's website.
The new Committee on Model Criminal Jury Instructions is established. The committee shall consist of 21 persons to be appointed by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will designate one member to serve as the chairperson of the committee. Generally members will be appointed for three-year terms and may be reappointed for two additional terms. However, to facilitate the transition and the staggering of terms, some initial appointments will be for abbreviated terms and those appointees who are members of the current State Bar of Michigan Standing Committee on Jury Instructions, Standard Criminal, will not be eligible for reappointment.
Effective January 1, 2014, the following persons are appointed to the new Committee on Model Criminal Jury Instructions:
For terms ending December 31, 2014:
The Honorable William J. Caprathe
The Honorable John T. Hammond
Ronald J. Bretz
Stephen M. Taratuta
Anica Letica
J. Mark Cooney
Torchio W. Feaster
For terms ending December 31, 2015:
The Honorable Brian R. Sullivan
William J. Vailliencourt, Jr.
Opolla Brown
The Honorable Annette M. Jurkiewicz-Berry
Louisa M. Papalas-Concessi
The Honorable Gene Schnelz
Lawrence B. Shulman
For terms ending December 31, 2016:
Rudolph A. Serra Bonita S. Hoffman
The Honorable Paul J. Paruk
Christopher Smith
Stacia J. Buchanan
The Honorable Timothy G. Hicks
Timothy Baughman
Judge Caprathe is designated as chairperson for the duration of his term. Court staff will serve as reporter of the committee.
It shall be the duty of the committee to ensure that the Criminal Jury Instructions accurately state applicable law, and that the instructions are concise, understandable, conversational, unslanted, and not argumentative. The committee shall have the authority to amend or repeal existing instructions and, when necessary, to adopt new instructions. Before doing so, the committee shall provide a text of the proposal to the secretary of the State Bar of Michigan and the state court administrator, and shall post the proposal on the Court's website [http://courts.mi.gov/Courts/MichiganSupremeCourt/MCrimJI [File Link Not Available]] for public comment. The notice and website posting shall state the time and method for commenting on the proposal. If the committee finds it necessary to take immediate action, the committee may adopt a new instruction or revision while the public comment period is pending.
By separate order, the Court is amending Rule 2.512 of the Michigan Court Rules to reflect the requirement to use the criminal jury instructions. The instructions, use notes, and history are expected to be posted on the Court's website by January 1, 2014. Additional supplemental commentary will be available shortly thereafter. Practitioners, litigants, and courts are encouraged to use the instructions as soon as practicable, but will be required to use them on the order's effective date of March 1, 2014.
Mich. Admin. Ord. Administrative Order No. 2013-13