Prosecutors Desk 7-14-13

At the beginning of every jury trial, the judge gives the jury instructions about the court process, the things jurors can do, (take notes, ask for hearing assist devices, tell the court if they need a break) and the court also tells the jurors things they are not supposed to do. (Talk to each other about the case before deliberations start, visit the crime scene, investigate on their own, acquire information from sources other than the court proceedings)

These instructions are designed to keep the jury from acquiring information that might affect their deliberations without the court or the lawyers having any control of the information or the information being subject to any process that would test the accuracy of the information. The information that is presented to a jury must be as accurate and reliable as possible.

However, the instructions are only useful if they are followed. Recently it was reported in the media that a juror in another state put a message out on twitter that the case was over nearly an hour before the jury announced the verdict. The subsequent conviction was overturned on appeal because of this juror misconduct.

In our court on at least one occasion, juror misconduct has caused a mistrial and subsequent retrial of a case. A juror during one of the breaks during the trial accessed the Internet from a cell phone and obtained information about the charge that was originally made against the defendant. The information was correct, but the fact that a juror had accessed information from sources outside of the trial process, lead to a mistrial when it was brought to the attention of the court. This problem has caused the court to require that jurors not use cell phones at all during the case or deliberations.

A mistrial is a costly delay for all people involved. Jurors have wasted time, lost work from their jobs, the lawyers and the court has wasted time and effort, the witnesses have wasted their time and the effort made to bring all these things together for a trial is wasted.

The instructions are important. It is important that they be followed. The whole point of the rules is to make sure the defendant has a legally fair trial. During the appellate process, a small mistake made in the procedure of a trial can be discovered and can form the basis for having to do the whole thing over again. That is what the parties seek to avoid. The goal is not to win; the goal is to have a decision that is based on a fair process.

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