Free Proposed Jury Instructions - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:04-cv-01009-EWN-MEH

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Stipulated Instruction No. 1 1. evidence. 2. The defendant has the burden or proving each of its affirmative defenses by The plaintiff has the burden of proving his claim by a preponderance of the

a preponderance of the evidence. 3. To prove something by a "preponderance of the evidence" means to prove

that it is more probably true than not. 4. "Burden of proof" means the obligation a party has to prove her or its claims

or defenses by a preponderance of the evidence. The party with the burden of proof can use evidence produced by any party to persuade you. 5. If a party fails to meet her or its burden of proof as to any claim or defense or

if the evidence weighs so evenly that you are unable to say that there is a preponderance on either side, you must reject that claim or defense.

Authority:

CJI Civ. 3:1 (CLE ed. 2005)

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Stipulated Instruction No. 2 Any finding of fact you make must be based on probabilities, not possibilities. You should not guess or speculate about a fact. Authority: CJI Civ. 3:4 (CLE ed. 2005)

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Stipulated Instruction No. 3 The evidence in this case consists of the sworn testimony of all the witnesses, all exhibits that have been received in evidence and all facts that have been admitted or agreed to. In determining the facts, you must consider only the evidence received at trial. Evidence offered at the trial and rejected or stricken by the Court must not be considered by you. Statements, remarks, arguments, and objections by counsel and remarks of the Court not directed to you are not evidence. You are to consider only the evidence in the case and the reasonable inferences from that evidence. An inference is a deduction or conclusion that reason and common sense lead the jury to draw from other facts that have been proven. When the attorneys on both sides agree as to the existence of a fact, when or a fact has been admitted, the jury must regard that fact as proven. If the agreement is that a witness would testify in a certain manner, all the jury is required to believe that the witness would have so testified.

Authority:

CJI Civ. 3:7 (CLE ed. 2005)

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Stipulated Instruction No. 4 Evidence may be either direct or circumstantial. Circumstantial evidence is the proof of facts or circumstances from which the existence or nonexistence of other facts may reasonably be inferred. All other evidence is direct evidence. The law makes no distinction between the effect of direct evidence and circumstantial evidence. Authority: CJI Civ. 3:8 (CLE ed. 2005)

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Stipulated Instruction No. 5 The weight of evidence is not necessarily determined by the number of witnesses testifying to a particular fact. Authority: CJI Civ. 3:11 (CLE ed. 2005)

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Stipulated Instruction No. 6 You must not be influenced by sympathy, bias or prejudice for or against any party in this case. Authority: CJI Civ. 3:14 (CLE ed. 2005)

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Stipulated Instruction No. 7 You are the sole judges of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. You should take into consideration their means of knowledge, strength of memory and opportunities for observation; the reasonableness or unreasonableness of their testimony; the consistency or lack of consistency of their testimony; their motives; whether their testimony has been contradicted or supported by other evidence; their bias, prejudice, or interest, if any; their manner or demeanor upon the witness stand; and all other facts and circumstances shown by the evidence that affect the credibility of the witnesses. Based on these considerations, you may believe all, part or none of the testimony of a witness. Authority: CJI Civ. 3:16 (CLE ed. 2005)

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Stipulated Instruction No. 8 Although the FMLA provides an employee with a right to reinstatement to his preleave position or an equivalent position on his return from FMLA leave, this right is not absolute. An employee who requests FMLA leave or is on FMLA leave has no greater rights than an employee who remains at work.

Authority: Smith v. Diffee Ford-Lincoln-Mercury, Inc., 298 F.3d 955, 960 (10th Cir. 2002); Gunnell v. Utah Valley State College, 152 F.3d 1253, 1262 (10th Cir. 1998)

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Stipulated Instruction No. 9 Difficulty or uncertainty in determining the precise amount of any damages does not prevent you from deciding an amount. You should use your best judgment based on the evidence. Authority: CJI Civ. 5:5 (CLE ed. 2005)

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Stipulated Instruction No. 10 The fact that an instruction on measure of damages has been given to you does not mean that the Court is instructing the jury to award or not to award damages. The question of whether or not damages are to be awarded is a question for the jury's consideration. Authority: CJI Civ. 5:1 (CLE ed. 2005)

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Stipulated Instruction No. 11 These instructions contain the law that will govern you in this case. No single instruction states all the applicable law. All the instructions must be read and considered together. You must not be concerned the wisdom of any rule of law. Regardless of any opinion you may have as to what the law should be, it would be a violation of your sworn duty to base a verdict upon any other view of the law than that given in the instructions of the Court. The Court did not in any way and does not, by these instructions, express any opinions as to what has or has not been proven in the case, or as to what are or are not the facts of the case. Authority: CJI Civ. 4:1 (CLE ed. 2005)

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Stipulated Instruction No. 12 The Bailiff will now escort you to the jury room. After you get to the jury room you shall select one of your members to be the foreperson of the jury. That person will be in charge of your discussions. You must all agree on your verdict, and you must sign the original form of whatever verdicts you reach. Please notify the Bailiff when you have reached a verdict, but do not tell the Bailiff what your verdict is. You shall keep the verdict forms, these instructions and the exhibits until the Court gives you further instructions.