Now that you have heard the court’s instructions on the law and the closing arguments, you are ready to begin your most important work as a juror. Your job is to reach a verdict after fair deliberations.
As Washington law says, “You are free to conduct your deliberations in any way that seems suitable to you and is consistent with the instructions. . .[i]”
Always, the goal of jury deliberations is a fair verdict, consistent with the law and the evidence. The judge will tell you most of this after the attorneys have completed their oral arguments on the other instructions, but sometimes these instructions go by very quickly in the flurry of activity at the end of a trial, so they are worth repeating here. Research shows that jurors spend up to one-quarter of their time trying to get organized. That is time well spent, in my opinion.
As you deliberate, consider the following guidelines:
- Respect each other’s opinions and the different viewpoints each of you brings to the process. Don’t be afraid to speak up and express your views.
- Be patient and generous in allowing everyone an opportunity to speak. Differences of opinion are healthy—they bring the evidence into focus and bring out points you might not have considered.
- Listen carefully to each other. It’s okay to change your mind, but don’t allow yourself to be bullied into doing so, and don’t bully anyone else.
- Don’t rush into a verdict to save time. The parties in this case deserve your thoughtful deliberation. The jury system depends on it.
- Each of you must decide the case for yourself, but you should do so only after you have reviewed the law, carefully considered all the evidence, discussed the issues fully and fairly with the other jurors, and listened to their views.
Discuss the law and the evidence to your satisfaction before you take a vote.
You should organize your discussions in whatever way you believe will be productive and fair. Some juries begin by reviewing the court’s instructions on the law, because those instructions identify each claim and proposition you must consider. Others begin by proceeding around the table with each juror in turn identifying the issues or concerns he or she would like to have discussed, because that encourages free expression by all jurors before positions are taken.
It is helpful to list the issues on which there are differences of opinion. Whatever approach you take, you should separately consider each claim, and examine the evidence—both the testimony and any exhibits—on each proposition that is part of a claim.
There is no set way to conduct a vote. You might vote by show of hands, by voice vote, or by written ballot. Use a method that will encourage each juror to freely express opinions and conclusions.
Many jurors aren’t familiar with group decision-making procedures. This is not the kind of thing that you do every day! Many jurors do not know which procedures are more likely to further, and which are more likely to inhibit, their joint search for the truth.
Taking a vote early in their deliberations can polarize the jury and inhibit open-minded discussion of the evidence. It is better to talk through the issues before forming any hard-and-fast opinions.
Jurors do have the right to ask questions, in writing, to the court after deliberation. Some the court will answer, and some it will not, because the question asks for information that didn’t come into evidence during the trial or is otherwise inadmissible. For example, during deliberations in a civil case involving a car wreck, the jury may wonder if either side got a ticket from the police, or whether one side or the other had insurance. Although those are interesting questions, those facts would not have been in evidence in the trial (because they are not relevant, for reasons that would take too long to explain here), and so the court would not give any answer other than something like “you must decide the case based on the evidence you heard.” That is not very satisfactory, but, lots of people have worked for 100 years or more to decide what should and should not be admissible in a trial, and you, the jury, have to live with those judgments. Remember, you swore an oath to follow the law, and that includes things like not taking into account things that were not introduced into evidence.
Also, try very hard to reach a verdict. In criminal cases, all jurors must agree on the verdict. In civil cases in Washington state courts, only 10 of 12 jurors have to agree. Even if you feel like it is a very hard decision, no other jury is likely to do any better, or have any better chance of getting it right, than your jury. If you don’t reach a verdict, the case will have to be retried, possibly months and months in the future. That costs everyone both enormous time and money, and justice delayed is justice denied.
We often hear people say they try to get out of jury duty. However, as a lawyer and when I am running focus groups, I always ask people whether they have ever been on a jury, and how they felt about it. Almost everyone says, “I didn’t want to do it, but now that I have, I’m really glad I did.” America’s jury system – trial by real people – is a precious part of our democracy. If you are called, please serve!
[i] Washington Pattern Jury Instructions, 6.18
