Have you ever wondered what REALLY happens at jury duty? Curious about how to be an outstanding juror? I’m going to fill you in on what you CAN’T do as a juror, share some essential tips on how to reach a verdict, and then explain what happens if you can’t come to a verdict.
If you’ve been picked to serve on the jury, then that means that you’ve survived jury selection. We’ve already covered jury selection a couple of times, so if you missed those videos, then I’d recommend checking those out.
Once you’re picked to serve on the jury, then you’ve just become the last line of defense in deciding someone’s fate, fortune, or freedom.
What Jurors CAN/CAN’T do
There are a few dos and don’ts when it comes to being a juror. What you may not realize is that your actions could cause a mistrial and even land you in jail for contempt.
Dos
One of the basic components of our justice system requires jurors to only hear evidence that is reliable and trustworthy. This means that you can only consider evidence that has been received in Court from the witness stand.
While you’re hearing this evidence, some courts will allow you to take notes. However, these are YOUR notes and you’re not allowed to rely on another juror’s notes. That means you must pay close attention during testimony and for God’s sake, please stay awake.
Also, some Courts actually allow the Jurors to ask the witnesses questions while they are testifying. If the Judge doesn’t mention anything about this ability, then don’t be afraid to ask the Judge whether you can ask questions. When the Judge permits this, all Jurors will pass notes to the Bailiff with their individual questions, and then the Judge will decide whether all, some, or none of the questions are asked of the witness.
Don’ts
When serving as a Juror, you’re not allowed to discuss the case with anyone; including family, friends, or the media, until after the verdict is rendered and the Judge releases you. This ensures that external opinions and biases do not influence your decision-making.
Also, until the close of evidence, you aren’t even allowed to discuss the case with your fellow Jurors until ALL evidence has been received and you’re instructed to begin deliberations. When trials last for weeks at a time, I know it can be frustrating to sit with 11 other people and not be allowed to discuss what you’ve just heard, but this is the way.
Additionally, Jurors must refrain from conducting any independent research about the case, the legal issues involved, or the parties and witnesses. This includes all forms of media—print, digital, and social—as well as personal investigations or inquiries. In high profile cases, you might even have to give up social media and watching the news while the case is pending to avoid accidentally being exposed to these outside influences.
Such actions can introduce information into your deliberations that were not officially admitted into evidence, potentially skewing impartiality.
Speaking of deliberations, let’s talk about how to reach a verdict.
How to Reach a Verdict
When the closing arguments are finished, the Judge will instruct you to retire to the jury room for deliberations.
The very first thing that you must do is choose a Foreperson. The Foreperson’s opinion doesn’t have any greater weight over any other Juror’s. The Foreperson is in charge of the paperwork and helping to keep the deliberations on track.
You might not know this, but most Jury verdicts are reached by simply answering Yes or No questions. Then, it becomes a “choose your own adventure” book at that point. For example, if you answer “No” to Question #1, the instructions may tell you to skip Question #2 and move to Question #5.
If it is a criminal case, then your answers to each question must be unanimous (meaning that all Jurors agree). If it is a civil case, depending on your State, then you do not have to be unanimous. In those States, only 9 or 10 of you must agree on the answers, however, the same 9 or 10 must agree on EVERY answer.
You’re not allowed to trade answers. For example, do not say, “I will answer this question YOUR way if you’ll answer this other question MY way.”
This should go without saying, but you’re also prohibited from drawing straws, flipping a coin, and drawing a verdict out of a hat to reach a decision.
As you might expect, when you put 12 people into a room together, there can be some strong opinions that make it impossible to reach a verdict. When that happens, your Foreperson writes a note to the Judge to inform the Court that the parties are Deadlocked.
What if the Jury is deadlocked?
When juries report they are deadlocked, the Judge will call the jurors back into the Courtroom to provide you with some additional instructions. This is what’s known as a “dynamite charge.”
This urges jurors to reexamine their views in an effort to reach a verdict because if the jury doesn’t reach a verdict, then the case WILL end in a mistrial.
The Judge will tell you that the case will likely be tried again before another jury at some future time who will likely hear the same evidence that you’ve already heard.
Then, the Judge will inform you that the parties have expended great time and effort in getting the case through this trial, and so careful consideration of that evidence might take quite a bit of your time.
Finally, the Judge will then tell you that the questions to be determined by any future jury will likely be the same questions confronting you and there is no reason to hope that another jury will find those questions any easier to decide.
With that instruction, it is usually enough to dynamite the logjam and get the jury to reach a verdict.
If it isn’t enough to break the logjam, and you still have one or more jurors who refuse to side with the group in order to reach a verdict, then you may be facing what’s known as Jury Nullification.
–Authored by Matthew L. Harris, Esq.,
Matthew Harris Law, PLLC – Civil Litigation Division
1101 Broadway, Lubbock, Texas, 79401-3303
Tel: (806) 702-4852 | Fax: (800) 985-9479