ostrich instruction
n.— «U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve on Thursday granted the government’s request for a controversial jury instruction known as “deliberate avoidance.” The standard, also called the “ostrich instruction,” offers the jury an alternative theory to find the men guilty of defrauding Hollinger shareholders. If the jurors don’t believe that Black and his cohorts intentionally committed an alleged theft of $60 million from Hollinger, they also can consider whether the defendants deliberately averted their eyes from the fraud going on within their ranks.» —“Federal prosecutors win key point in Black fraud trial” by Ameet Sachdev Chicago Tribune June 14, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)