Event Details

This legal document is a jury instruction (Instruction No. 39) from a criminal case, filed on December 17, 2021. It defines the legal concept of "conscious avoidance" or "willful blindness," explaining to the jury how a defendant's deliberate act of ignoring facts can be considered the legal equivalent of knowledge. The instruction clarifies that this is a factor the jury can use to determine if the defendant acted "knowingly," a required element for the crimes charged by the Government.