Defendant's jury instructions (given)

Given.

In the District Court of the Second Judicial District of Utah Territory in and for the County of Beaver -

The People of the United States In the Territory of Utah vs. John D. Lee.

II. The court instructs the Jury as follows.

In every crime, or public offense there must be an union, or joint operation of act and intention, or criminal negligence.

3

Given.

In the investigation and estimate of Criminatory evidence there is an antecedent prima facie presumption in favor of innocence of the party accused, grounded in reason and Justice, not less than in humanity, and recognized in the Judicial practice of all civilized nations, which presumption must prevail until it be destroyed by such an overpowering amount of legal evidence of guilt as is calculated to produce the opposite belief -

5

Given.

Objected to.

It is not sufficient, that the circumstances proved coincide with, account for, and therefore render probable the hypothesis sought to be established; but they must exclude to a moral certainty, every other hypothesis but the single one of guilt, or the Jury must find the defendant not guilty.

6

Given.

The accused is entitled to the benefit of all reasonable doubts, which after careful consideration may be found in your minds, as well as to the sufficiency of the proof of any and all alleged facts necessary to constitute either of the offenses of which he may be convicted under the indictment, as also, whether he is guilty of any of them.

Before conviction the presumption of guilt produced by the evidence aught to amount to almost certainty, or such a moral certainty as convinces the minds of the Jury as reasonable men. You must understand however, that what is meant by a reasonable doubt, is not a mere possible doubt, since it should not be overlooked that everything relating to human affairs and depending on moral evidence is open to some possible or imaginary doubt. It is that state of the case which after the entire comparison and consideration of all the evidence leaves the mind of the Jurors in such a condition, that they cannot say they feel an abiding faith or conviction, to a moral certainty of the truth of the charge.

All the presumptions of law, indipendant of evidence are in favor of innocence, and every person is presumed innocent until proven to be guilty.

9

Given.

In a criminal case the prosecution is required to prove beyond all reasonable doubt, the facts which constitute the offense.

The establishment, therefore of a prima facie case merely, does not take away the presumption of innocence from the defendant, but leaves that presumption to operate in connection with, or in aid of, any proofs offered by him to rebut or impair the prima facie case thus made out against him.