The Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Eyewitness Identification solicits comments on proposed revisions to the Preliminary/Contemporaneous Instruction issued in 2015 as part of the Model Jury Instructions on Eyewitness Identification.
On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Judicial Court approved and recommended use of revisions to the Model Jury Instructions on Eyewitness Identification, which were originally issued in 2015. The 2026 revisions can be found at https://www.mass.gov/law-library/model-jury-instructions-on-eyewitness-identification. At that time, no revisions were made to the Preliminary/Contemporaneous Instruction, which formed part of the 2015 model instruction. See 473 Mass. 1051, 1052 (2015). The Standing Committee on Eyewitness Identification now proposes changes to the Preliminary/Contemporaneous Instruction. The changes are intended to reduce the length of the instruction, and to make it clearer for jurors by replacing existing text with plain language.
Comments should be directed to Timothy E. Maguire, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Boston, MA 02108 on or before May 4, 2026. Comments may also be emailed to timothy.maguire@jud.state.ma.us. Comments received will be made available to the public.