Any person who commits the offense of being a spectator at a [cock] [animal] fight is guilty of a crime.

For you to find the defendant guilty of this offense, the state must have proven beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of the following essential elements:¹

(1) that the defendant was knowingly present as a spectator at any place

where preparations were being made for an exhibition of [fighting]

[baiting] [injuring] of any animal;

(2) that the defendant intended to be present at such exhibition of

[fighting] [baiting] [injuring].

"Animal" means a domesticated living creature or a wild creature previously captured.²

"Intentionally" means that a person acts intentionally with respect to the nature of the conduct or to a result of the conduct when it is the person's conscious objective or desire to engage in the conduct or cause the result.³

"Knowingly" means that a person acts knowingly with respect to the conduct or to circumstances surrounding the conduct when the person is aware of the nature of the conduct or that the circumstances exist. A person acts knowingly with respect to a result of the person's conduct when the person is aware that the conduct is reasonably certain to cause the result.⁴

"Spectator" means an observer of an event; eyewitness; on-looker.⁵

[It is an exception to this offense that the training or use of hunting dogs was for sport or that the training or use of dogs was for law enforcement purposes. If the defendant proves this exception by a preponderance of the evidence,⁶ you must find [him] [her] not guilty.]⁷

1. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-203(a)(4).

2. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-201(a).

3. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-106(a)(18).

4. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-106(a)(20).

5. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 1980.

6. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-202(b)(2). The trial judge should utilize T.P.I. --

CRIM. 42.01 (Preponderance of the Evidence).

7. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-203(b).

1. Being a spectator at an animal fight is a Class C misdemeanor. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-203(d).

2. The Committee is of the opinion that the language of Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-203(b) are words "of similar import" as the term is used in Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-202 (Exceptions).

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