Approved 10/17/88
The defendant is charged with knowingly having in his possession a weapon in violation of Statute 2C:39-5d. A section of that statute in pertinent part provides as follows:
"Any person who knowingly has in his possession any1 other weapon under circumstances not manifestly appropriate for such lawful uses as it may have, is guilty of a crime. . . .
In order to convict the defendant of this crime, the State has the burden of providing beyond a reasonable doubt each of the essential elements of such crime as follows:
1. That is a weapon. (Name object or refer to Exhibit S- .)
2. That the defendant possessed the weapon knowingly.
3. That the defendant's possession of the weapon was under circumstances not manifestly appropriate for a lawful use.
The first essential element that you must find is that (or "the object," or "the exhibit") was a weapon. A weapon is anything readily capable of lethal use or of inflicting serious bodily injury.2
The second essential element is that the weapon was knowingly possessed by the defendant at the time and place alleged.
A person acts knowingly with respect to (his/her) conduct if (he/she) is aware that (his/her) conduct is of that nature. Since knowingly is a state of mind and cannot be seen and can only be determined by inference from conduct, words or acts, it is rarely susceptible of direct proof. Therefore, it is not necessary that witnesses be produced by the State to testify that a defendant said (he/she) knowingly did something. (His/her) knowledge may be gathered from (his/her) acts and (his/her) conduct, and from all (he/she) said and did at the particular time and place and from all thesurrounding circumstances reflected in the testimony.
Possession is defined as3 (see Model Charge for Actual, Constructive or Joint Possession).
The third essential element is that the defendant had possession of the weapon under circumstances not manifestly appropriate for such lawful uses as it may have. The State has. the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant's possession of the (Exhibit) was under circumstances not manifestly appropriate for such lawful uses as it may have. It is not necessary for the State to prove that the defendant formed an intent to use that object as a weapon.
It is, however, necessary for the State to prove that it was possessed under such circumstances that a reasonable person would recognize that it was likely to be used as a weapon; in other words, under circumstances where it posed a likely threat of harm to others. You may consider factors such as the surrounding circumstances; size, shape and condition of the object, the nature of its concealment, the time, place and actions of the defendant when it was found in (his/her) possession to determine whether or not the object was manifestly appropriate for its lawful use.
If any or all of the elements of the crime have not been proven to your satisfaction beyond a reasonable doubt, your verdict must be "Not Guilty."
If, on the other hand, you are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that (Exhibit) is a weapon that the defendant knowingly possessed under circumstances not manifestly appropriate for lawful use, your verdict must be "Guilty."
1 Excepted from this Statute are machine guns, handguns, rifles and shotguns. (See N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5a to 5e.).
3 If possession occurs in a motor vehicle, see N.J.S.A. 2C:39-2.