Maryland Criminal Jury Instructions and Commentary

David E. Aaronson (Retired Author) is Professor of Law Emeritus at The American University Washington College of Law (WCL), Washington, D.C. Previously, he was B. J. Tennery Scholar and Professor of Law and Director of WCL’s nationally recognized Trial Advocacy and Advocacy LL.M. Programs. While Director, he led the Program team to multiple U.S. News and World Report annual top-10 rankings in Trial Advocacy. Early in his career as a WCL professor, he served as interim director of WCL’s Clinical Programs and director of the Maryland Criminal Justice Clinic, creating the prosecutor component. His areas of specialization include: Criminal and Civil Trial Advocacy, Evidence, and Criminal Law and Procedure. Professor Aaronson has authored or co-authored eight books and monographs and numerous articles on topics, such as criminal jury instructions, crime victims’ rights and remedies, cross-racial eyewitness identification, the insanity defense, and the death penalty.

In 1975, Aaronson published Maryland’s first book of pattern criminal jury instructions, Maryland Criminal Jury Instructions and Commentary (MCJIC) followed by a Second Edition in 1988. The two-volume Third Edition (2009) was updated annually in cumulative supplements through 2013. Beginning with the 2014–2015 Edition, this work is now updated and published annually. Aaronson was first encouraged to undertake this project by the late J. Dudley Diggs, Associate Judge, Maryland Court of Appeals, who generously wrote the Foreword to the First Edition. The Foreword to each of next two editions (in 1988 and 2009) were generously authored respectively by John F. McAuliffe, Associate Judge (retired) Maryland Court of Appeals and John F. Murphy, Associate Judge (retired), Maryland Court of Appeals.

Professor Aaronson is a past chair of the Maryland State Bar Association’s Section of Criminal Law and Practice and currently is an ex offıcio member. He also served as chair of the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section’s Rules of Criminal Procedure, Evidence, and Police Practices Committee. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and the American Bar Foundation. He received the Robert C. Heeney Award in 1999 (presented “to those individuals exemplifying the highest professional standards and achievements in the field of criminal law during their distinguished careers”) from the Maryland State Bar Association, Section of Criminal Law and Practice. He has been honored as The American University Scholar/Teacher of the Year and twice honored by WCL as “Outstanding Teacher.”

Professor Aaronson received an LL.B. (1964) from Harvard Law School and an LL.M. (1965) from Georgetown University Law Center, also serving as an E. Prettyman Graduate Teaching Fellow, Criminal Justice Clinic. He received his B.A. (1961), M.A. (1964) and Ph.D. (1970) (economics) from George Washington University.

Elizabeth Inglehart (Update Author), Clinical Associate Professor of Law - Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.