6th Circuit issues new jury instructions for sex offenses stressing what prosecutors "need not" prove

The Sixth Circuit this morning issued three newly amended jury instructions (and additional updated commentary and title changes). Two of the changed instructions deal with sex offenses, and both were changed to highlight what prosecutors "need not" prove. Interestingly, much of the changes come from unpublished case law.  The court provided an official summary (shown below), which isn't all that helpful:Looking at the new instructions themselves, as to § 2251(a), the instruction now states the following:"it is not necessary that the government prove that the defendant took the pictures," or "that the defendant knew of the interstate or foreign nature of the materials used to produce the visual depictions that the defendant knew of the interstate or foreign nature of the materials used to produce the visual depictions." The commentary cites the 2017 decision in United States v. Lively, for the…

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