Kentucky Instructions to Juries provides examples of instructions that are uniform, concise and specific. You'll save time and practice confidently with convenient and authoritative instructions.
The Criminal Instructions, prepared by William S. Cooper, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Kentucky and revised by Donald P. Cetrulo, Former Director of the Administrative Office of the Court,
track the language of the statute almost by rote.
The Civil Instructions, prepared by John S. Palmore, Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kentucky, and revised by Donald P. Cetrulo cover civil instructions generally, including negligence, intentional torts, and other civil wrongs.
References to relevant cases following the sample instructions provide source material to aid the attorney in drafting final instructions. Commentary by the authors, provides essential background information, explains the rationale for the language used in the instruction, and offers illuminating comparisons with similar or related instructions: making the commentary as important as the instructions themselves.
Criminal Instructions
Chapter 1: General Principles
Part 1. Matters of Substance
Part 2. Oral Admonitions
Part 3. Matters of Form and Procedure
Part 4. Matters of Appeal
Chapter 2: Miscellaneous Guilt Phase Instructions
Chapter 3: Assaults and Restrains of Persons
Part 1. Definitions
Part 2. Homicide
Part 3. Assault
Part 4. Abuse
Part 5. Kidnapping and Related Offenses
Chapter 4: Offenses Related to Sex and Pornography
Part 1. Definitions
Part 2. Rape
Part 3. Sodomy
Part 4. Sexual Abuse
Part 5. Indecent Exposure
Part 6. First-Degree Unlawful Transaction with a Minor
Part 7. Prostitution
Part 8. Obscenity
Part 9. Sexual Exploitation of Minors
Chapter 5: Damage to or Intrusion Upon Property
Part 1. Definitions
Part 2. Burglary and Trespass
Part 3. Arson
Part 4. Criminal Mischief and Related Offenses
Chapter 6: Robbery, Theft and Related Offenses
Part 1. Definitions
Part 2. Robbery
Part 3. Theft
Part 4. Forgery and Related Offenses
Part 5. Business and Commercial Frauds
Chapter 7: Offenses Against Public and Judicial Administration
Part 1. Definitions
Part 2. Obstruction of Public Administration
Part 3. Escape and Offenses Related to Custody
Part 4. Bribery and Related Offenses
Part 5. Perjury and Related Offenses
Chapter 8: Offenses Against Public Order, Safety and Morals
Part 1. Definitions
Part 2. Riot, Disorderly Conduct, and Related Offenses
Part 3. Offenses Against Privacy of Communications
Part 4. Offenses Relating to Firearms and Destructive Devices
Part 5. Offenses Involving Operation of Motor Vehicles
Part 6. Gambling
Part 7. Miscellaneous Crimes Affecting Businesses, Occupations and Profession
Part 8. Family Offenses
Chapter 9: Controlled Substances
Part 1. Definitions
Part 2. Schedule Substances
Part 3. Marijuana
Part 4. Miscellaneous KRS Chapter 218A Offenses
Part 5. Alcoholic Beverages
Part 6. Assistance Program Benefits
Chapter 10: Complicity and Inchoate Offenses
Part 1. Definitions
Part 2. Complicity
Part 3. Inchoate Offenses
Chapter 11: Defenses
Part 1. Definitions
Part 2. Justification
Part 3. Absence of Criminal Responsibility
Part 4. Miscellaneous Defenses
Chapter 12: Penalty Phase Instructions
Part 1. Misdemeanor Offenses
Part 2. Capital Offenses
Part 3. Felony Offenses
Part 4. Subsequent Offense Enhancement
Part 5. Persistent Felony Offenders
Civil Instructions
Part I: General Principles
Chapter 13: General Principles (Civil Cases)
Part II: Negligence
Chapter 14: Definitions Relating to Negligence
Chapter 15: Animals
Chapter 16: Automobiles
Chapter 17: Electricity
Chapter 18: Elevators and Escalators
Chapter 19: Gas
Chapter 20: Hotel Accommodations
Chapter 21: Lawyer Malpractice
Chapter 22: Liability for the Conduct of Another
Chapter 23: Medical Malpractice
Chapter 24: Owners and Occupiers of Real Estate
Chapter 25: Railroads
Chapter 26: Watercraft
Part III: Intentional Torts
Chapter 27: Abuse of Legal Process
Chapter 28: Assault and Battery
Chapter 29: Conversion
Chapter 30: False Imprisonment
Chapter 31: Fraud and Negligent Misrepresentation
Chapter 32: Trespass
Part IV: Other Civil Instructions
Chapter 33: Agency
Chapter 34: Bailments
Chapter 35: Banks
Chapter 36: Carriers
Chapter 37: Cemeteries
Chapter 38: Contracts
Chapter 39: Damages
Chapter 40: Defamation and Privacy
Chapter 41: Eminent Domain
Chapter 42: Explosives
Chapter 43: Gifts
Chapter 44: Insurance
Chapter 45: Employment
Chapter 46: Joint Tortfeasors
Chapter 47: Land Disputes
Chapter 48: Nuisance
Chapter 49: Products Liability
Chapter 50: Wills
Chapter 51: Wrongful Discharge from Employment or Interference with Business Expectancy Damages; Punitive Damages
Chapter 52: Outrageous Conduct
Cetrulo, Donald P.
Don Cetrulo is a practicing attorney, an Adjunct Professor at University of Kentucky College of Law, and a Commissioner of the Circuit Court for the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit. He previously served as the Director of Administrative Office of the Courts for fourteen years between 1981 and 1995, and as Director of the Legislative Research Commission for four years between 1995 and 1999. From 1999 and 2006, he was a Kentucky Commissioner of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.
He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law. In 1988 he received the prestigious Innovations in State and Local Government award for excellence in State and local Government from the Ford Foundation and Harvard University?s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
From 1972 to 1980 Cetrulo served as a member of the United States Army Reserve.
Judge Palmore
It is widely believed that Judge John S. Palmore has had more impact on the law of the state of Kentucky than has any other judge in this century. During his more than 20 years as a member of the Kentucky Court of Appeals (the state's highest court which then became the Kentucky Supreme Court), Palmore contributed volumes of published opinions to the law of Kentucky. While chief justice, he spearheaded the transition from the antiquated court system to the modern system of courts now in place in Kentucky. Judge Palmore chaired the review commission that supervised the drafting of the current Kentucky Penal Code.
He graduated cum laude from the University of Louisville Law School in 1939, attended the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration then went into private practice in his home town of Henderson, Kentucky. He was in the Navy and saw active duty in the Pacific arena during WWII.
Judge Palmore served as chief justice in 1966, 1973 and from 1977 to 1982. He remained a member of the state's highest court until he retired in 1982. He retired from private law practice in 1992 and lives in Frankfort, Kentucky.
Judge Cooper
William S. Cooper served on the Supreme Court of Kentucky since 1996, He represented the 2nd Supreme Court District, which is comprised of 14 counties in the mid-west region of Kentucky. Justice Cooper practiced law in Elizabethtown prior to serving as a circuit judge from 1979 to 1996. He was chief regional judge of the Green River Region during his last four years on the circuit bench. He retired on June 30, 2006.
Justice Cooper is a native of Elizabethtown, KY., where he currently resides. He attended the University of Kentucky as an undergraduate and graduated first in the law school class of 1970. He is a past president of the University of Kentucky Law Alumni Association and a 2001 inductee into the UK Law Alumni Hall of Fame.
Justice Cooper served as chair of the Supreme Court Criminal Rules Committee and the Kentucky Evidence Rules Review Commission. He also served on numerous working committees including the Kentucky Council on Higher Education Subcommittee for Legal Education, the Committee on Justice and Corrections, and the Commission on Guardians ad Litem.
Justice Cooper was named a Charter Life Fellow of the Kentucky Bar Foundation in 1986 and received the 1992 Bar Center Award from the Kentucky Bar Association.
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