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Hon. Scott T. Valholak · U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
Hon. Scott T. Valholak · U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
CASE CAPTION: _______________________________________ CASE NO.: _____________________ EXHIBIT LIST OF: _____________________________________ (Name and Party Designation) Exhibit Witness Brief Description Stipulation Offered Admitted Refused Court Use Only NB For the trial exhibit lists, please add at least ten additional blank rows at the end of the exhibit list to accommodate any additional exhibits that may be introduced.
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO MAGISTRATE JUDGE SCOTT T. VARHOLAK Case No. _________________________ Date:_________________ Case Caption: _________________________________________________________ _______________________________ WITNESS LIST (Name and Party Designation) WITNESS ESTIMATED DATE(S) AND LENGTH OF TESTIMONY __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________ __________________________________ _____________________
TEMPLATE 08_2022 PRELIMINARY JURY INSTRUCTIONS Civil Action No. XX-cv-0XXXX-STV Doe v. Company A Members of the Jury: Before we begin the trial of the case you heard about during jury selection, I will provide you some preliminary instructions to help you understand how the trial will proceed and how you must conduct yourselves during the trial. At the end of the trial, I will give you more detailed guidance on the law and on how you will go about reaching your decision. John Doe brings this civil lawsuit against Company A, which I will refer to simply as Company A. I will sometimes refer to Mr. Doe as the Plaintiff. Mr. Doe is represented by [Lawyers]. I will sometimes refer to Company A as the Defendant. Company A is represented by [Lawyers]. [short description of lawsuit and claims] “Burden of proof” means the obligation a party has to prove his or her claims or defenses. The party with the burden of proof can use evidence produced by any party to persuade you. Mr. Doe has the burden of proving his claims, which requires him to prove every essential element of the claims by a preponderance of the evidence. Company A has the burden of proving each of the elements of its affirmative defenses by a preponderance of the evidence. Preponderance of the evidence is evidence sufficient to persuade you that a fact is more likely present than not present. In other words, a preponderance of the evidence means such evidence as, when considered and TEMPLATE 08_2022 compared with the evidence opposed to it, has more convincing force, and produces in your minds a belief that what is sought to be proved is more likely true than not true. Any finding of fact you make must be based on probabilities, not possibilities. You should not guess or speculate about a fact. If a party fails to prove its claim or defense by a preponderance of the evidence or if the evidence weighs so evenly that you are unable to say that there is a preponderance on either side, you must reject that claim or defense. In order for Mr. Doe to prove his claim for breach of the underinsured motorist insurance contract and recover from Company A, he must prove the following by a preponderance of the evidence: 1. Company A entered into a contract with Mr. Doe to provide underinsured motorist benefits; 2. Company A failed to comply with its obligations under the contract in handling Mr. Doe’s claim for underinsured motorist benefits; and 3. Mr. Doe substantially complied with his obligations under the contract. In order for Mr. Doe to prove his claim for bad faith breach of contract and recover from Company A, he must prove the following by a preponderance of the evidence: 1. Mr. Doe had injuries, damages or losses from the November 1, 2016 motor vehicle accident in excess of the amount he recovered from the driver who caused the accident; 2. Company A acted unreasonably in denying or delaying Mr. Doe’s claim for underinsured motorist benefits under the insurance policy; 3. Company A knew that its conduct was unreasonable or Company A recklessly disregarded the fact that its conduct was unreasonable; and 2 TEMPLATE 08_2022 4. Company A’s unreasonable conduct was a cause of Mr. Doe’s injuries, damages, or losses. In order for Mr. Doe to prove his claim for unreasonable delay or denial in the payment of benefits and recover from Company A, he must prove the following by a preponderance of the evidence: 1. Company A denied or delayed payment of benefits to Mr. Doe; and 2. Company A’s denial or delay of payment was without a reasonable basis. If Mr. Doe is successful in proving one or more of his claims, you will be called upon to consider Company A’s affirmative defense that Mr. Doe failed to mitigate his damages. To succeed on this affirmative defense, Company A must prove by a preponderance of the evidence both: 1. Mr. Doe failed to seek such medical care for his injuries as a reasonable person would have sought under similar circumstances; and 2. Mr. Doe had some increased injuries, damages, and/or losses because he did not seek the medical care that a reasonable person would have sought under similar circumstances. Once I finish providing you these instructions, counsel for the parties will deliver their opening statements. Counsel for Mr. Doe will tell you about the evidence that Mr. Doe intends to put before you during this trial. The opening statement, however, is not evidence. Its purpose is only to help you understand what the evidence will be. It is a road map to show you what is ahead. After Mr. Doe’s opening statement, counsel for Company A will make an opening statement, which also is not evidence. 3 TEMPLATE 08_2022 After these opening statements, evidence will be presented from which you will have to determine the facts. The evidence will consist of the testimony of the witnesses, documents, and other things received into the record as exhibits, and any facts about which the lawyers agree or to which they stipulate. Mr. Doe will offer his evidence first and counsel for Company A may cross-examine the witnesses. After Mr. Doe has finished presenting his evidence, Company A may choose to present evidence, but it is not required to introduce any evidence or call any witnesses, because, as explained earlier, Mr. Doe has the burden of proving his claims by a preponderance of the evidence. Counsel for Mr. Doe may cross-examine any witnesses called by Company A. If Company A submits evidence, Mr. Doe may then introduce rebuttal evidence. Due to the witnesses’ schedules, Company A may call a witness during Mr. Doe’s presentation of evidence or Mr. Doe may call a witness during Company A’s presentation of evidence. Similarly, because some of Company A’s witnesses are the same as Mr. Doe’s witnesses, counsel for Company A may directly examine Mr. Doe’s witnesses during Mr. Doe’s case. You are to treat this testimony the same as other testimony offered by that party during its presentation of evidence. At times during the trial, a lawyer may make an objection to a question asked by another lawyer, or to an answer by a witness. This simply means that the lawyer is requesting that I make a decision on a particular rule of law. Do not draw any conclusion from such objections or from my rulings on the objections. When I “sustain” an objection, I am excluding that evidence from this trial for a good reason. When I “overrule” an objection, I am permitting that evidence to be admitted into evidence. If I sustain an objection to a question, the witness may not answer it. Do not attempt to guess what 4 TEMPLATE 08_2022 answer might have been given if I had allowed the answer. If I tell you not to consider a particular statement, you may not refer to that statement in your later deliberations. Similarly, if I tell you to consider a particular piece of evidence for a specific purpose, you may consider it only for that purpose. If I overrule the objection, treat the answer as any other. It is a party’s duty to object when the other side offers testimony or other evidence that the party believes is inadmissible. You should not be unfair or partial against an attorney or the attorney’s client, because the party has made objections. You should not infer or conclude from any ruling or other comment I make that I have any opinions on the merits of the case favoring one side or the other. I do not favor one side or the other. During the course of the trial, I may have to interrupt the proceedings to confer with the attorneys about the rules of law that should apply. Sometimes we will talk briefly, at the bench. But some of these conferences may take more time, so I will excuse you from the courtroom. I will try to avoid such interruptions whenever possible, but please be patient even if the trial seems to be moving slowly because conferences often actually save time in the end. You should not speculate about the content of these conferences, try to overhear them, or draw any inferences about the case from them. Ordinarily, the attorneys will develop all the relevant evidence that will be necessary for you to reach your verdict. However, during the course of the trial, I may ask a question of a witness. If I do, that does not indicate I have any opinion about the facts in the case but am only trying to bring out facts that you may consider. You should not place any emphasis on any question asked by me or try to draw any conclusions about my views on the case based upon any such questions. 5 TEMPLATE 08_2022 In rare situations, a juror may believe a question is critical to reaching a decision on a necessary element of the case. Prior to dismissing each witness from the stand, I will ask you whether anyone has any questions for that witness. In the exceptional circumstance where you believe a question is critical, you may write out the question for me to consider in consultation with the lawyers. If it is determined to be a proper and necessary question, I will ask it. If I do not ask it, you should recognize that I have determined it is not a legally appropriate question and you should not worry about why it was not asked or what the answer would have been. You are to consider all the evidence received in this trial, but you may only consider the evidence presented during the trial and the reasonable inferences that may be drawn from that evidence. An inference is a deduction or conclusion that reason and common sense lead the jury to draw from other facts that have been proved. There are, generally speaking, two types of evidence from which a jury may properly determine the facts of a case. One is direct evidence, such as the testimony of an eyewitness. The other is indirect or circumstantial evidence, that is, the proof of a chain of facts that point to the existence or non-existence of certain other facts. As a general rule, the law makes no distinction between direct and circumstantial evidence. The law simply requires that you find the facts in accord with all the evidence in the case, both direct and circumstantial. You will be the sole judges of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. You should take into consideration their means of knowledge, strength of memory, and opportunities for observation; the reasonableness or unreasonableness of their testimony; the consistency or lack of consistency in their testimony; their motives; whether their testimony has been contradicted or supported by 6 TEMPLATE 08_2022 other evidence; their bias, prejudice or interest, if any; their manner or demeanor upon the witness stand; and all other facts and circumstances shown by the evidence which affect the credibility of the witnesses. Based upon these considerations, you may believe all, part, or none of the testimony of a witness. The weight of evidence is not necessarily determined by the number of witnesses testifying to a particular fact. The law does not require any party to call as witnesses all persons who may have been present at any time or place involved in the case or who may appear to have some knowledge of the matters at issue at this trial. Nor does the law require any party to produce as exhibits all papers and things mentioned during the trial. You must not be influenced by any personal likes or dislikes, opinions, prejudices, or sympathy. Ultimately, it will be up to you to decide what evidence to believe and how much of any witness’s testimony to accept or reject. During the trial, however, you should keep an open mind and should not form or express any opinion about the case until you have heard all of the testimony and evidence, the attorneys’ arguments, and my closing instructions to you on the applicable law. After you have heard all the evidence on both sides, I will instruct you on rules of law that you will use to reach your verdict. Mr. Doe and Company A will then each be given time for their final arguments. During the course of the trial, you should not talk with any witness, with either of the parties, or with any of the lawyers at all. Similarly, the witnesses, parties, and attorneys are not allowed to speak with you during the trial. If you see them at recess or pass them in the halls and they do not speak to you, they are not being rude or unfriendly; 7 TEMPLATE 08_2022 they are simply following the law. In addition, during the course of the trial you must not talk about the trial or any of the participants in the trial with anyone else, including your family, friends, and fellow jurors. Do not discuss the case or any of the parties, witnesses, or attorneys with anyone or provide any information about the trial or the participants to anyone outside the courtroom until the verdict is received. Do not use the Internet, your mobile devices, social media, or any other form of electronic communication to research or provide any information about the trial and its participants. Simply put, do not communicate with anyone or conduct your own research regarding the trial or its participants until after your verdict is received. You may only tell people that you are a juror in a case and that I have instructed you not to tell them anything else about the case until I have discharged you. Further, you should not make up your own mind about what the verdict should be or discuss this case among yourselves until you have heard all of the evidence, have been instructed on the law, and have gone to the jury room to make your decision at the end of the trial. It is important that you wait until all the evidence is received and you have heard my instructions on the controlling rules of law before you reach any conclusions or deliberate among yourselves. Keep an open mind until then. Allow me to emphasize that, during the course of the trial, you will receive all the evidence you properly may consider to decide the case. Because of this, you should not attempt to gather any information or do any research on your own. Do not attempt to visit any places mentioned in the case, either actually or on the Internet, and do not in any other way try to learn about the case outside the courtroom. 8 TEMPLATE 08_2022 Violation of these instructions could cause a mistrial, meaning all of our efforts over the course of the trial would have been wasted and we would have to start all over again with a new trial before a new jury. If you were to cause a mistrial by violating this order, you could be subject to paying all the costs of these proceedings and you could also be punished for contempt of court. I expect you will inform me immediately if you become aware of another juror’s violation of these instructions. The court reporter will be making stenographic notes of everything that is said during the trial. This is basically to assist in the resolution of any appeals. However, a typewritten copy of the testimony will not be available for your use during deliberations, so please listen to the evidence carefully. Any exhibits received into evidence, however, will be available to you during your deliberations. If you would like to take notes during the trial, you may. On the other hand, you are not required to take notes. If you do decide to take notes, be careful not to get so involved in note taking that you become distracted, and remember that your notes will not necessarily reflect exactly what was said, so your notes should be used only as memory aids. Therefore, you should not give your notes precedence over your independent recollection of the evidence. You should also not be unduly influenced by the notes of other jurors. In your deliberations, give no more and no less weight to the views of a fellow juror because that juror did or did not take notes. If you do take notes, leave them in the jury room at night and do not discuss the contents of your notes until you begin deliberations. We will make sure the jury deliberation room is locked when you leave in the evening and unlocked before you arrive in the mornings. 9 TEMPLATE 08_2022 Now that the trial has begun you must not discuss the case or its participants with anyone and must not hear or read about it in the media or on the Internet. The reason for this is that your decision in this case must be made solely on the evidence presented at the trial. With that introduction, counsel for Mr. Doe may present his opening statement. 10
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Civil Action No.: xx-cv-xxxxx-STV Doe, v. Plaintiff, Company A, Defendant. CLOSING JURY INSTRUCTIONS 1 Members of the Jury: Now that you have heard all of the evidence, it is my duty to instruct you on the applicable law. In any jury trial there are, in effect, two judges. I am one of the judges, you are the other. I am the judge of the law. You, as jurors, are the judges of the facts. I presided over the trial and decided what evidence was proper for your consideration. It is also my duty at the end of the trial to explain to you the rules of law that you must follow and apply in arriving at your verdict. In explaining the rules of law that you must follow, first, I will give you some general instructions which apply in every civil case—for example, instructions about the burden of proof and insights that may help you to judge the credibility of witnesses. Then I will give you some specific rules of law that apply to this particular case and, finally, I will explain the procedures you should follow in your deliberations. These instructions will be given to you for use in the jury room, so you need not take notes. 2 The parties are John Doe, the plaintiff, and Company A, the defendant. PARTIES [Details of claims and defenses] These are the issues you are to decide. 3 DUTY TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS You, as jurors, are the judges of the facts. But in determining what actually happened—that is, in reaching your decision as to the facts—it is your sworn duty to follow all of the rules of law as I explain them to you. You have no right to disregard or give special attention to any one instruction, or to question the wisdom or correctness of any rule I may state to you. You must not substitute or follow your own notion or opinion as to what the law is or ought to be. The attorneys may refer to the governing rules of law or these instructions during their closing arguments. If there is any difference between the law stated by the attorneys and these instructions, you must follow my instructions. It is your duty to apply the law as I explain it to you, regardless of the consequences. However, you should not read into these instructions, or anything else I may have said or done, any suggestion as to what your verdict should be. That is entirely up to you. It is also your duty to base your verdict solely upon the evidence, without prejudice or sympathy. You must not be influenced by any personal likes or dislikes, opinions, prejudices or sympathy. That was the promise you made and the oath you took. 4 BURDEN OF PROOF “Burden of proof” means the obligation a party has to prove his or her claims. The party with the burden of proof can use evidence produced by any party to persuade you. Plaintiff has the burden of proving his claims, which requires him to prove every essential element of the claims by a preponderance of the evidence. Defendant has the burden of proving each of the elements of its affirmative defenses by a preponderance of the evidence. Preponderance of the evidence is evidence sufficient to persuade you that a fact is more likely present than not present. In other words, a preponderance of the evidence means such evidence as, when considered and compared with the evidence opposed to it, has more convincing force, and produces in your minds a belief that what is sought to be proved is more likely true than not true. This standard does not require proof to an absolute certainty, because proof to an absolute certainty is seldom possible in any case. If a party fails to prove its claim by a preponderance of the evidence, or if the evidence weighs so evenly that you are unable to say that there is a preponderance on either side, you must reject that claim or defense. 5 EVIDENCE—DEFINED You must make your decision based only on the evidence that you saw and heard here in court. Do not let rumors, suspicions, or anything else that you may have seen or heard outside of court influence your decision in any way. You are not allowed to look at, read, consult, or use any material of any kind, including any newspapers, magazines, television and radio broadcasts, dictionaries, medical, scientific, technical, religious, or law books or materials, or the Internet in connection with your jury service. I want to emphasize that you must not seek or receive any information about this case from the Internet, which includes all social networking, Google, Wikipedia, blogs, and any other website. You are not allowed to do any research of any kind about this case. Do not use any information from any other source concerning the facts or the law applicable to this case other than the evidence presented and the instructions that I give you. Do not do your own investigation about this case. You are not allowed to visit any places mentioned in the evidence during your deliberations. The parties have stipulated to certain facts. A “stipulation” is an agreement between the parties to a case that certain facts are true. When the parties to a case stipulate or agree to the existence of a fact, you must, unless otherwise instructed, accept the stipulation as evidence, and regard the fact as proven without the presentation of any further evidence. Similarly, I have taken “judicial notice” of certain facts or events, the truth of which may not be legally questioned. You must accept these judicially noticed facts as evidence, and regard the facts as proven without the presentation of any further evidence. The evidence in this case includes only what the witnesses said while they were testifying under oath and the exhibits that I allowed into evidence. 6 Nothing else is evidence. The lawyers’ statements and arguments are not evidence. Their questions and objections are not evidence. My legal rulings are not evidence. And my comments and questions are not evidence. It is the duty of the attorney on each side of a case to object when the other side offers testimony or an exhibit that the attorney believes is not properly admissible under the rules of law. Only by offering an objection can an attorney request and obtain a ruling from me on the admissibility of the evidence being offered by the other side. You should not be influenced against any attorney or the attorney’s client because the attorney has made objections. Do not attempt to interpret my rulings on objections as somehow indicating how I think you should decide this case. I am simply making a ruling on a legal question. During the trial, the attorneys highlighted certain parts of some exhibits entered into evidence. However, it is for you to determine the significance, if any, of the highlighted parts. During the trial, I did not let you hear the answers to some of the questions that the lawyers asked. I also ruled that you could not see some of the exhibits that the lawyers wanted you to see. And sometimes I ordered you to disregard things that you saw or heard, or I struck things from the record. You must completely ignore that. Do not even think about it. Do not speculate about what a witness might have said. These things are not evidence, and you are bound by your oath not to let them influence your decision in any way. 7 EVIDENCE—DIRECT AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL—INFERENCES There are, generally speaking, two types of evidence from which a jury may properly determine the facts of a case. One is direct evidence, such as the testimony of an eyewitness. The other is indirect or circumstantial evidence, that is, the proof of a chain of facts which point to the existence or non-existence of certain other facts. As a general rule, the law makes no distinction between direct and circumstantial evidence. The law simply requires that you find the facts in accord with all the evidence in the case, both direct and circumstantial. You are to consider only the evidence presented during the trial and the reasonable inferences that may be drawn from that evidence. An inference is a deduction or conclusion that reason and common sense lead the jury to draw from other facts that have been proved. Any finding of fact you make, however, must be based on probabilities, not possibilities. You should not guess or speculate about a fact. It is also your duty to base your verdict solely upon the evidence, without sympathy, prejudice, or bias. You must not be influenced by any personal likes or dislikes, opinions, prejudices, or sympathy. That was the promise you made and the oath you took. 8 CREDIBILITY OF WITNESSES In deciding the facts of this case, you must consider all of the evidence. This does not mean, however, that you must accept all of the evidence as true or accurate. You are the sole judges of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. You should take into consideration their means of knowledge, strength of memory and opportunities for observation; the reasonableness or unreasonableness of their testimony; the consistency or lack of consistency in their testimony; their motives; whether their testimony has been contradicted or supported by other evidence; their bias, prejudice, or interest, if any; their manner or demeanor upon the witness stand; and all other facts and circumstances shown by the evidence which affect the credibility of the witnesses. Based upon these considerations, you may believe all, part, or none of the testimony of a witness. The weight of evidence is not necessarily determined by the number of witnesses testifying to a particular fact. The law does not require any party to call as witnesses all persons who may have been present at any time or place involved in the case or who may appear to have some knowledge of the matters at issue at this trial. Nor does the law require any party to produce as exhibits all papers and things mentioned during the trial. 9 IMPEACHMENT BY PRIOR INCONSISTENCIES A witness may be discredited or impeached by contradictory evidence or by evidence that at some other time the witness has said or done something, or had failed to say or do something, that is inconsistent with the witness’s testimony at trial. If you believe any witness has been impeached and thus discredited, you may give the testimony of that witness such credibility, if any, you think it deserves. IMPEACHMENT BY EVIDENCE OF UNTRUTHFUL CHARACTER You have heard the testimony of [name of witness], who was a witness in the [Plaintiff's pr Defendant’s] case. You also heard testimony from others concerning [their opinion about his character for truth- telling] [his reputation, in the community where he lives, for telling the truth]. It is up to you to decide from what you heard here whether [name of witness] was telling the truth in this trial. In deciding this, you should bear in mind the testimony concerning his [reputation for] truthfulness. 10 EXPERT WITNESS The rules of evidence ordinarily do not permit witnesses to testify as to their own opinions or their own conclusions about important questions in a trial. An exception to this rule exists as to those witnesses who are described as "expert witnesses." An "expert witness" is someone who, by education, background, training, or experience, may have become knowledgeable in some technical, scientific, or very specialized area. If such knowledge or experience may be of assistance to you in understanding some of the evidence or in determining a fact, an "expert witness" in that area may state an opinion as to a matter in which he or she claims to be an expert. You should consider each expert opinion received in evidence in this case and give it such weight as you may think it deserves. You should consider the testimony of expert witnesses just as you consider other evidence in this case. If you should decide that the opinion of an expert witness is not based upon sufficient education or experience, or if you should conclude that the reasons given in support of the opinion are not sound, or if you should conclude that the opinion is outweighed by other evidence, including that of other "expert witnesses," you may disregard the opinion in part or in its entirety. As I have told you several times, you, the jury, are the sole judges of the evidence and the facts of this case. 11 SUMMARIES AND CHARTS (Not Received in Evidence) Certain charts and summaries have been shown to you to help explain the evidence in this case. Their only purpose is to help explain the evidence. These charts and summaries are not evidence or proof of any facts. 12 DUTY TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS These instructions contain the law that you must use in deciding the case. No single instruction states all the applicable law. All the instructions must be read and considered together. You must not be concerned with the wisdom of any rule of law. Regardless of any opinion you may have as to what the law should be, it would be a violation of your sworn duty to base a verdict upon any other view of the law than that given in the instructions of the Court. The Court does not, by these instructions, express any opinions as to what has or has not been proved in the case, or to what are or are not the facts of the case. 13 DUTY TO DELIBERATE—VERDICT FORM After the Closing Arguments, Ms. Ortiz will escort you to the jury deliberation room and provide each of you with a copy of the instructions that I have just read. All of the exhibits admitted into evidence will also be placed in the jury room for your review. The original forms of the jury instructions and exhibits are a part of the court record and thus please do not place any marks or notes on them. The jury instructions labeled “copy” may be marked or used in any way you see fit. As mentioned in my preliminary instructions, you will not have a written transcript of the testimony and argument to consult during your deliberations. When you go to the jury room, you should first select a foreperson, who will help to guide your deliberations and will speak for you here in the courtroom. The second thing you should do is review the instructions. Not only will your deliberations be more productive if you understand the legal principles upon which your verdict must be based, but for your verdict to be valid, you must follow the instructions throughout your deliberations. Remember, you are the judges of the facts, but you are bound by your oath to follow the law stated in these instructions. To reach a verdict, whether it is for Plaintiff or Defendant, all of you must agree. Your verdict must be unanimous. Your deliberations will be secret. During your deliberations, you must not communicate with or provide any information to anyone by any means about this case. Nor may you use electronic means, such as a cell phone, tablet, computer, or the Internet, to investigate any information about the case because it is important that you decide this case based solely on the evidence presented during the trial. Information on the Internet or available through social media might be wrong, 14 incomplete, or inaccurate. In our judicial system, it is important that you are not influenced by anything or anyone outside of this courtroom. Otherwise, your decision may be based on information known only by you and not your fellow jurors or the parties in the case. This would unfairly and adversely impact the judicial process. I expect you will inform me immediately if you become aware of another juror’s violation of these instructions. If you took notes during the trial, you may use those notes during your deliberations. However, your notes should not be substituted for your memory. Remember, notes are not evidence. If your memory should differ from your notes (or someone else’s notes), then you should rely on your memory and not the notes. You should give no more and no less weight to the views of a fellow juror because that juror did or did not take notes. You must consult with one another and deliberate in an effort to reach agreement if you can do so. Each of you must decide the case for yourself, but only after an impartial consideration of the evidence with your fellow jurors. You may deliberate only while all jurors are present together in the jury room. You must suspend your deliberations any time all jurors are not present together in the jury room. If you should fail to agree upon a verdict, the case is left open and must be tried again. Obviously, another trial would require the parties, the Court, and the jurors to make another large investment of time and effort, and there is no reason to believe that the case can be tried again by either side better or more exhaustively than it has been tried before you. It thus is important that you attempt to reach a unanimous verdict, but, of course, only if each of you can do so after having made your own conscientious decision. During your deliberations, do not hesitate to reexamine your own opinions and change 15 your mind if convinced that you were wrong. But do not give up your honest beliefs solely because of the opinion of your fellow jurors, or for the mere purpose of returning a verdict. Remember at all times, you are judges—judges of the facts; you are not partisans. Your sole interest is to seek the truth from the evidence in the case. You will receive a document called a Jury Verdict Form. You are instructed to answer the questions in the Jury Verdict Form as directed in that form. You must reach unanimous agreement on the answers to each of the questions you are directed in the form to answer. As you will note from the wording of the questions, it may not be necessary for you to consider or answer every question. Upon arriving at an agreement, your Foreperson will insert each answer on the Jury Verdict Form, then your Foreperson will date the Jury Verdict Form, sign it, and ask all of the other jurors to sign it. Your signature on the Jury Verdict Form is simply verification of your agreement with the unanimous decision on the fact questions presented to you in this case. A Court Security Officer will be seated outside the jury room during your deliberations. After you have filled out the Jury Verdict Form, your Foreperson should advise the Court Security Officer that you have reached a verdict. 16 COMMUNICATION WITH THE COURT If you want to communicate with me at any time during your deliberations, please write down your message or question on the form provided and give it to the Court Security Officer seated outside the jury room, who will bring it to my attention. I will respond as promptly as possible, either in writing or by having you return to the courtroom so that I can address you orally. I caution you, however, that with any message or question you might send, you should not tell me any details of your deliberations or indicate how many of you are voting in a particular way on any issue. No member of the jury should hereafter attempt to communicate with me except by signed writing, and I will communicate with any member of the jury on anything concerning the case only in writing or orally here in open court. If you send a note to me containing a question or request for further direction, please bear in mind that responses may take considerable time and effort. Before giving an answer or direction I must first notify counsel and bring them back to the court. I must confer with them, listen to arguments, research the legal authorities, if necessary, and reduce the answer or direction to writing. There may be some questions that, under the law, I am not permitted to answer. If it is improper for me to answer the question, I will tell you that. Please do not speculate about what the answer to your question might be or why I am not able to answer a particular question. You will note from the oath that will be taken by the Court Security Officer that he or she, as well as all other persons, are forbidden from communicating in any way or manner with any member of the jury on any subject touching the merits of the case. Bear in mind also that you are never to reveal to any person—not even to the 17 Court—how the jury stands, numerically or otherwise, on the questions before you until after you have reached a unanimous verdict. I want to caution you again, that you may not conduct any outside research or consider any information except the evidence introduced at trial. Finally, let me remind you again that nothing I have said in these instructions, nor anything I have said or done during the trial, was meant to suggest to you what I think your decision should be. That is your exclusive responsibility. 18
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