Which jury instructions do you request, and how do you preserve the error?

Part 1. Start from the Standard Jury Instructions

The court will default to the Florida Standard Jury Instructions in criminal cases. The starting move is to find the standard instruction for each charged offense and read its elements against the charging document. This guide does not reproduce the instructions; the source-linked index does that, and links each one to the official Florida Bar text.

• The Standard Instructions are the baseline, not the ceiling

  Florida criminal trials run on the Florida Standard Jury Instructions in criminal cases, the pattern instructions published by The Florida Bar and authorized for publication and use by the Florida Supreme Court. They are the starting point the court will reach for by default. The first task is to find the standard instruction for each charged offense and read its elements against the charging document, so the instruction the jury hears actually matches what the State has to prove.

• Find the standard instruction for the charge

  The source-linked index lists each standard instruction by chapter with its published number and title, and links to the official Florida Bar text. Locate the instruction for the charged offense there, then read the official version in full. Working from the published instruction, rather than a remembered version, is what keeps the elements charge accurate and preserves the record if the given instruction turns out to be wrong.

The Standard Jury Instructions themselves are listed, source-linked by chapter, on the Florida criminal jury instructions reference. That page links each instruction to the official Florida Bar text; this guide is about how to use them.

Part 2. The charge conference and requesting instructions

Which instructions the jury actually hears is settled at the charge conference, on the record. This is where the requested instructions go in and where the objections are made. Under Rule 3.390 (Jury Instructions), the charging of the jury and the mechanics of instructions in a Florida criminal case are governed by rule; the descriptions below are general, and the current rule text controls.

• The charge conference is where instructions are settled

  Before the jury is charged, the court holds a charge conference to settle which instructions will be given. This is the forum where the defense argues for the instructions it wants and objects to the ones it does not, on the record. Treating the charge conference as a formality is the mistake; it is a substantive hearing, and what is said in it is what an appellate court will later read.

• Request the instructions you want, in writing, on the record

  A general request is not the same as a specific, written requested instruction tendered to the court. To put the court to a decision, and to build a record, the requested instruction should be submitted in the form counsel wants it given, so the ruling is on a concrete proposal rather than a vague ask. Rule 3.390 governs the charging of the jury and the mechanics of instructions in a Florida criminal case; read the current rule text at the official source for its specific requirements.

The rule governing the charge is Rule 3.390 (Jury Instructions) (Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, The Florida Bar). The rule controls; confirm the current text before relying on any description here.

Part 3. Lesser-included, special, and theory-of-defense instructions

Beyond the base elements instruction, two categories are where the strategic work in instructions usually sits: the lesser-included offense instructions the standard instructions identify, and the non-standard special or theory-of-defense instructions counsel drafts when the pattern does not capture the defense. Both are described here as general categories; the application is a judgment on the specific charge and evidence.

• Lesser-included offense instructions

  A charged offense often carries lesser-included offenses, and the standard instructions identify the necessarily lesser-included offenses and the category of permissive lesser-included offenses for many charges. Whether a lesser-included instruction is available, and whether requesting it serves the defense, is a strategic judgment on the specific charge and the evidence. The category exists as a matter of the standard instructions; the application is counsel's own decision on the case.

• Special and theory-of-defense instructions

  Where the standard instructions do not capture a defense the evidence supports, a special instruction or a theory-of-defense instruction may be appropriate. These are non-standard instructions counsel drafts and requests, grounded in the evidence and the law of the defense being raised. Because they depart from the pattern, they require a clear written proposal and a clear record of the request and the ruling, described here as a general category rather than a script.

The necessarily and permissive lesser-included offenses are set out within the standard instructions themselves; find the instruction for the charge on the source-linked reference and read the official version. A special or theory-of-defense instruction is counsel's own drafting, grounded in the evidence.

Part 4. Preserving instruction error for appeal

Instruction error is often the strongest issue on appeal, and whether it can be raised at all turns on the record made at trial. As a general matter of preservation, that means a specific and timely objection on the record, and, for a refused instruction, the proffered instruction itself in the record. This is stated as general preservation doctrine, not a specific rule of your jurisdiction.

• A specific, timely objection on the record

  As a general matter of preservation, an instruction error is preserved by a specific and timely objection made on the record, so the trial court has the chance to correct it and the appellate court has something to review. A general or after-the-fact complaint is weaker than a specific objection stating the ground at the time the instruction is settled or given. This is stated as general preservation doctrine; the specific requirements are a matter for counsel's own research.

• The requested instruction has to be in the record too

  Preserving the objection to an instruction that was given is one half of the record; preserving a claim that a requested instruction was wrongly refused is the other. For the second, the instruction counsel wanted has to have been requested, in a concrete form, and refused on the record. Without the proffered instruction in the record, there is little for an appellate court to measure the refusal against. Build both halves of the record at the charge conference.

• Why the record made now decides the appeal later

  Instruction error is frequently litigated on appeal, and what an appellate court can do with it turns almost entirely on the trial record: whether the objection was specific and timely, and whether the requested instruction was tendered and refused. The work of preservation is done at the charge conference and while the jury is being charged, not afterward. This guide describes that general framework; it does not predict how any particular claim will be resolved.

Preservation is stated here as a general doctrine (a specific, timely objection plus a requested instruction on the record). The specific preservation requirements are a matter for counsel's own research; nothing here is a case holding.

When you need the assembled charge-conference packet

This framework is the method. When the case is at the charge conference and you need the actual instructions assembled for the charge, the Jury Instruction Brief pulls the full verbatim standard instruction text, a mechanically-checked elements checklist, the verbatim lesser-included offense tables, the bracketed charge-conference decision points, and the amendment history, every line traced to the official Florida Bar source.

Where this fits in the case

Getting the instructions right runs alongside the rest of trial preparation. The source-linked jury instructions reference is the index of the standard instructions themselves, and the Florida defense toolkit organizes every free reference and paid exhibit by the stage of the case.

Reference

For the standard instructions themselves, see the Florida criminal jury instructions reference. For the assembled charge-conference packet for a charge, see the Jury Instruction Brief. For the stage-by-stage map of a Florida case, see the Florida defense toolkit. For the full set of Florida references, start at the Florida criminal-defense references hub.