How to Use Michigan Model Criminal Jury Instructions Online

The Michigan Model Criminal Jury Instructions online book includes all jury instructions adopted by the Michigan Supreme Court’s Committee on Model Criminal Jury Instructions as well as notes on use, comments, and history. ICLE updates the online book as the committee adopts changes, and we will post all proposals for changes that the committee publishes but has not yet adopted.

You can search the instructions by search terms or instruction number or browse lists of instructions.

The Michigan Model Criminal Jury Instructions online book allows you to pick and choose instructions to save to your computer in one file. See How to Download. The downloaded files include instructions only, not use notes or comments.

The online instructions also provide hyperlinks to MCLs, MCRs, MREs, M Crim JIs, Michigan Supreme Court opinions from 1942 to the present, Michigan Supreme Court orders from 1966 to the present, and Michigan Court of Appeals published opinions from 1965 forward (since the inception of the Court of Appeals).

1. Enter your search terms in the search box. Results will appear in order of relevance. Note that you can enter an instruction number as a search term. If you don't find the instruction you are looking for using particular search terms, first check to make sure you typed it correctly and then try using a synonym. For more advice on searching, see Search Tips.
2. You will see a list of instruction titles. Click the one you want, and you will see the instruction text.

When you get to the material you are looking for, you can use search highlighting or your browser's find function to locate your search terms in the text.

• To browse a list of all the instructions, under All Instructions, click on the link to View and download selected jury instructions from a master list. Click an instruction title to view that instruction, or select instructions to download (see How to Download).
• To browse a chapter of instructions, click on any of the chapters listed under Instructions by Chapter. Click an instruction title to view that instruction, or select instructions to download (see How to Download).

1. Select instructions to download and add them to your download basket:
   • If you are looking at a list of instructions, click the box by an instruction number to select the instruction for downloading. When you have selected all the instructions you want, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click ADD TO BASKET.
   • You can also click ADD TO BASKET while viewing an individual instruction.
2. View your list of instructions, and add or remove instructions:
   1. When you've added instructions to your download basket, you will see the list of instructions you've selected for your basket so far.
   2. Click the remove symbol next to the instruction title to remove an instruction from the download file.
   3. Click ADD INSTRUCTIONS if you want to add instructions to the download file. This link will take you to the Michigan Model Criminal Jury Instructions contents page, but your selections will be saved in your download basket. Click VIEW BASKET from any instructions list page to return to the list of files you have selected for downloading.
   4. When you are satisfied with your list of selections, click PREPARE FILE.
3. To save your file, for Windows operating systems, right-click the appropriate icon (Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, or Tablets/Phones) and choose Save Target As. For other operating systems and devices, click and follow prompts. Be sure to note the file name and the name of the folder and drive where you save your file.

The jury instruction files are compatible with most word processing software.