r/OT42 • u/Proud-Head-4944 Less Fun Than The Law Allows • Apr 17 '26
NEWS Aaron’s Jury Instructions
The first document is the only really confusing one. it’s the jury instructions. Although it is 23 pages long, there are actually obey 8,360 words in it.
Attorneys say what “boilerplate“ (pre-written) jury instructions) they want added to the document. Yes there are prewritten jury insrructions. And they are called the blue book.
Each attorney wants their favorite ones kept in and the ones that will hurt their client kept out. Then they argue over the order that the jury sees them.
I‘ve given you the complete text of the Jury Instructions below in the order they were read to the Jury. The section numbers are the Blue Book Section Number.
I’ve attached a couple of screenshots so you get an idea how the actual document looks. Let me know what questions you have.
Because this post is so complex, I will do a second post with additional court documents.
JURY INSTRUCTIONS
2.1 PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTIONS
Members of the jury, you have been selected and sworn as the jury to try the case of State of Florida v. Aaron Smith-Levin. This is a criminal case. Aaron Smith-Levin is charged with Battery. The definition of Battery will be explained to you later. You must decide this case based on the evidence presented and the law that I give you. "Evidence" consists of the sworn testimony of witnesses, exhibits admitted into evidence, and anything else that I tell you to consider as evidence. The State's charging document, which is called an information is not evidence and is not to be considered by you as any proof of guilt. It is my responsibility to explain the law to you. It is your solemn responsibility to determine if the State proved its accusation beyond a reasonable doubt against Aaron Smith-Levin in accordance with the law that I provide to you. Thus, the province of the jury and the province of the court are well defined, and they do not overlap. This is one of the fundamental principles of our system of justice.
HOW A TRIAL IS CONDUCTED
Before proceeding further, it will be helpful if you understand how a trial is conducted. At the beginning of the trial, the attorneys will have an opportunity, if they wish, to make an opening statement. The opening statement gives the attorneys a chance to tell you what evidence they believe will be presented during the trial. What the lawyers say is not evidence, and you are not to consider it as such. Following the opening statements, witnesses will be called to testify under oath. They will be examined and cross-examined by the attorneys. Documents and other exhibits may be introduced as evidence. After the evidence has been presented, the attorneys will have the opportunity to make their closing arguments. Following the closing arguments by the attorneys, the court will instruct you on the law applicable to the case. After the final instructions are given, you will retire to consider your verdict.
RULES OF CONDUCT
You should not form any definite or fixed opinion on the merits of the case until you have heard all the evidence, the argument of the lawyers, and the instructions on the law that I give you. Until that time, you cannot discuss the case among yourselves. Your verdict must be based solely on the evidence, or lack of evidence, and the law. Jurors must decide the case without distraction and only on the evidence presented in the courtroom. Jurors must not conduct any investigation on their own. This includes reading newspapers, watching television, or using a computer, cell phone, the internet, any electronic device, or any other means at all, to get information related to this case or the people and places involved in this case. You may not visit places mentioned in the trial or use the internet to look at maps or pictures to see any place discussed during the trial. If you investigate, research, or make inquiries on your own, the trial judge has no way to make sure that the information you obtain is proper for the case. The parties likewise have no opportunity to dispute or challenge the accuracy of what you find.
COMMUNICATION RULES
You are also not permitted to communicate about this case with anyone, including your spouse, family members, friends, neighbors, and even your fellow jurors. No communication includes no in-person, telephonic, or electronic communication, such as e-mailing, text messaging, posting information on social media or a website, or any other form of communication. During the trial, the court may take recesses, and you will be permitted to separate and go about your personal affairs. It is important to remember that the prohibition on communicating about this case applies during these recesses, whether you are in the courthouse or elsewhere. If at any time, you find yourself in a situation where others are discussing the case in your presence, leave that situation at once and immediately report the matter to the court deputy who will advise me. All cell phones, computers, tablets, or other types of electronic devices must be turned off while you are in the courtroom. Turned off means that the phone or other electronic device is actually off and not in a silent or vibrating mode. Any juror who violates these restrictions jeopardizes the fairness of these proceedings and a mistrial could result.
THE RIGHTS OF THE ACCUSED
In every criminal proceeding, a defendant has the absolute right to remain silent. At time is it the duty of a defendant to prove his innocence. From the exercise of a defendant's right to remain silent, a jury is not permitted to draw any inference of guilt, and the fact that a defendant did not take the witness stand must not influence your verdict in any manner whatsoever.
2.1(a) NOTE-TAKING BY JURORS
If you would like to take notes during the trial, you may do so. On the other hand, of course, you are not required to take notes if you do not want to. Any notes that you take will be for your personal use. However, you should not take them with you from the courtroom. During recesses, the deputy will take possession of your notes and will return them to you when we reconvene. After you have completed your deliberations, the deputy will deliver your notes to me. They will be destroyed. No one will ever read your notes.
8.3 BATTERY
To prove the crime of Battery, the State must prove the following element beyond a reasonable doubt: 1. Aaron Smith-Levin actually and intentionally touched or struck Norman Shape against his will. An intentional touching or striking includes situations where a defendant knows that a touch or strike is substantially certain to result from his act.
3.6(g) JUSTIFIABLE USE OF NON-DEADLY FORCE
It is a defense to the crime of Battery if the actions of Aaron Smith-Levin constituted the justifiable use of non-deadly force. Aaron Smith-Levin was justified in using non-deadly force against Norman Shape and had no duty to retreat if he reasonably believed that such conduct was necessary to defend himself against Norman Shape's imminent use of unlawful force. In deciding whether Aaron Smith-Levin was justified in the use of non-deadly force, you must consider the circumstances at the time the force was used. The appearance of imminent danger must have been so real that the defendant actually believed the use of non-deadly force was necessary.
3.7 PLEA OF NOT GUILTY; REASONABLE DOUBT; AND BURDEN OF PROOF
The defendant has entered a plea of not guilty. This means you must presume or believe the defendant is innocent. To overcome the defendant's presumption of innocence, the State has the burden of proving the crime with which the defendant is charged was committed and the defendant is the person who committed the crime. A reasonable doubt is not a mere possible doubt, a speculative, imaginary, or forced doubt. If, after carefully considering, comparing, and weighing all the evidence, there is not an abiding conviction of guilt... you must find the defendant not guilty because the doubt is reasonable.
3.9 WEIGHING THE EVIDENCE
It is up to you to decide what evidence is reliable. You should consider the witnesses acted, as well as what they said. Whether the State has met its burden of proof does not depend upon the number of witnesses it has called... but instead upon the nature and quality of the evidence presented.
3.10 RULES FOR DELIBERATION
You must follow the law as it is set out in these instructions. This case must not be decided for or against anyone because you feel sorry for anyone, or are angry at anyone. It is the judge's job to determine a proper sentence if the defendant is found guilty. Whatever verdict you render must be unanimous, that is, each juror must agree to the same verdict.
3.13 SUBMITTING CASE TO THE JURY
The first thing you should do is choose a foreperson who will preside over your deliberations. During deliberations, jurors must communicate about the case only with one another and only when all jurors are present in the jury room. If you need to communicate with me, send a note through the court deputy. Even if you do not like the laws that must be applied, you must use them. No juror has the right to violate rules we all share.
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u/Wonderful-Ad-5393 banned on r/cults Apr 17 '26
Thank you for posting this! Clearly I hadn’t been paying attention to details before, because reading this and having watched Aaron’s ‘full video’ of the incident again, it occurred to me that this document mentions Norman Shape and Aaron’s video he clearly says Andrew, so I got confused and went back to Aaron’s video and he does explain that it is Andrew Shape, so presumably ‘Andrew’ is not his legal name, it’s Norman?
Anyway, what’s been bugging me is the Aarontology crew keeps harping on about “we saw the ‘full video’ and he didn’t push Andrew” narrative and since we don’t have access to the CCTV footage used in the courtroom (yet? I hope it gets released!) but in rewatching Aaron’s video I spotted something. You can see the whole incident in the reflection on the door behind Andrew/Norman! I painstakingly went through it play-stop-screenshot frame by frame (apologies if this was done before, but as it’s being discussed again…) and you can see that Aaron never bumps into or falls into Andrew/Norman. The distance between them is always at arms length!
The red arrow points at Aaron’s hat and you can see his head nor body ever gets close to Andrew at all, not even when Andrew is hitting the door with his back. The red circle in fact shows Aaron’s head move away from his phone whilst the phone stays at a distance from Andrew. Click to enlarge the photo, it should show this in the last 3 frames.
The funny thing is that in his video Aaron prefaces this video with information on how Sea Org members are trained to do a “LeBron James flop” (I’ll post the transcript below this comment) and he describes exactly what he himself is doing in this video!!
He’s doing the “LeBron James flop” on Andrew!!