The ostrich instruction is a jury instruction that the requirement of knowledge to establish a guilty mind (mens rea), is satisfied by deliberate ignorance - deliberate avoidance of knowledge. This principle became established in British courts in the 1860s, and became widespread in the United States in the late 19th century. The United States Supreme Court upheld it against a constitutional challenge in United States v. Jewell.
The ostrich instruction takes its name from the myth that ostriches bury their heads in the sand when in danger as they believe it will cause the threat to leave, similar to how someone may deliberately ignore information which implicates them in a crime believing it will render them unable to be charged with it.
Typically, the ostrich instruction will be given in response to the ostrich defense, a legal strategy in which a defendant claims that they were unaware of any criminal activity and attempts to ignore their legal problems. This is not a valid legal defense, and as such often ultimately contributes to establishing mens rea.
See also
References
- Ostrich Instruction: Deliberate Ignorance as a Criminal Mens Rea, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Volume 81 Issue 2, Summer 1990 Pages 191-234; I P Robbins,
- McGoey, Linsey (2019). The Unknowers: How Strategic Ignorance Rules the World. Zed Books Ltd. p. 21. ISBN 9781780326382.
- Criminal Law - Cases and Materials, 7th ed. 2012, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business; John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder, ISBN 978-1-4548-0698-1,
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