CR27-046 01/18/19
LEWDNESS -- 13 V.S.A. § 2601a
The State
has charged (Def)_______________ with lewdness, as follows:
[Read the charge.]
Every crime is made up of essential elements. Before (Def)_______________
can be found guilty of the charge, the State must have proven each of the
essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt. In this case, the essential
elements are that on the date and at the place alleged,
(1) (Def)_______________;
(2) intentionally engaged in the conduct alleged in the charge, specifically _______________;
(3) the conduct was open and gross; and
(4) the conduct was lewd.
The first essential element
is that (Def)_______________ is the person who committed the alleged acts.
The second essential element is that (Def)_______________ intentionally engaged
in the conduct charged. The intent with which a person does an act may be
shown by the way in which he or she expresses it to others, or by his or her
conduct. In determining (Def)_______________’s intent, you should
consider all of the surrounding facts and circumstances established by the
evidence.
The third essential element, open and gross, means that the alleged act
was committed within the view of at least one non-consenting member of the
public. You may find that (Def)_______________’s acts were “open and gross”
if they were committed in a public place, or you may find that
(Def)_______________’s acts were “open and gross” if they were done openly in
the presence of (victim)_______________, without (victim)_______________’s
consent, whether or not the acts were in a public place.
Consent means words or actions by the other person indicating a
voluntary agreement to do something or to participate in something.
“Consent” means consent of the will. Lack of consent may be shown without
proof of resistance.
[(Victim)_______________ did not consent if (Def)_______________ knew that
(victim)_______________ was mentally incapable of understanding the nature of
the lewd and lascivious behavior.]
[(Victim)_______________ did not consent if (Def)_______________ knew that
(victim)_______________ was not physically capable of resisting, or declining
consent to, the lewd and lascivious behavior.]
[(Victim)_______________ did not consent if (Def)_______________ knew that (victim)_______________
was unaware that lewd and lascivious behavior was being committed.]
[(Victim)_______________ did not consent if (Def)_______________ knew that
(victim)_______________ was mentally incapable of resisting or declining to
consent to the lewd and lascivious behavior, due to mental illness or mental
retardation. “Mental Illness” means a substantial disorder of thought,
mood, perception, orientation, or memory, any of which grossly impairs the
persons’s judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to meet
the ordinary demands of life. “Mental retardation” means significantly
subaverage intellectual functioning which exists concurrently with deficits in
adaptive behavior.]
The last essential element is that the conduct was lewd. Lewdness
is defined as “gross and wanton indecency in sexual relations.” Nudity
alone is not sufficient to prove lewdness. To determine whether
(Def)_______________’s behavior was lewd, you should apply your sense of the
community standards of sexual decency, propriety, and morality.
Here the State alleges that
(Def)_______________ engaged in open and gross behavior which was also lewd, by
(specific acts)____________________.
All of the elements of the offense must have been
present at the same time. If the State has not proven each of the
essential elements of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt, then you must find
(Def)_______________ not guilty. However, if the State has proven all of the essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt, you
must return a verdict of guilty.