Comments on: On jury duty

Comments on: On jury duty http://www.themeat.org/2010/02/11/on-jury-duty?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=on-jury-duty an umbrella in the desert Wed, 22 May 2013 04:47:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: dave http://www.themeat.org/2010/02/11/on-jury-duty/comment-page-1#comment-43236 dave Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:48:34 +0000 http://www.themeat.org/?p=746#comment-43236 Jim Bob - Thanks for the comment. I agree that the jury instructions should be fair to both parties and relevant to the trial. On the other hand, juries shouldn't be expected to digest 70 pages of legalese.

In my own trial, we were constantly referring to the instructions -- debating how they do or don't apply, struggling with their meaning, and deciding for ourselves how they weigh for or against the defendant or prosecution -- and that's only after scouring the 70 pages for a single sentence relevant to our discussion. I'm certain that the difficulty in understanding the instructions has affected the results of many trials, including the one I was in.

There must be a better way to deliver instructions to the juries that's short, comprehensive, and understandable to speed up deliberations and make trials fairer for all.

]]> By: Jim Bob http://www.themeat.org/2010/02/11/on-jury-duty/comment-page-1#comment-43233 Jim Bob Sun, 21 Mar 2010 20:02:16 +0000 http://www.themeat.org/?p=746#comment-43233 The jury instructions can vary from trial to trial, especially if a civil (non-criminal) case. The lawyers for both sides, and the judge have to agree to the instructions, so it is hard to make these 'regular'. Those instructions are very much ad-hoc, and depend greatly upon the topic, issues and questions that the jury is asked to make a determination upon. That is generally a good thing, that both parties to the case have a role on the jury instructions.

]]>