Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Juries. Discussion of the case prior to submission.

 State v. Tristan Cameron, 2016 VT 134 [filed December 23, 2016] 

The Court ruled as a matter of first impression that it is improper for jurors in a criminal case to discuss the evidence and in-court events with each other prior to submission.

The Court cautioned trial judges who are presiding over jury trials to give an explicit pre-submission nondiscussion instruction, along with an instruction not to communicate with others about the case. The instruction can be given in an orientation of potential jurors or in case-specific preliminary instructions. To the extent that the trial judge is giving reminder instructions during the trial, they should specifically address intra-jury communications.

Other jurisdictions are unanimous in prohibiting such discussion in criminal cases, although the Court noted that some courts have authorized juror evidence discussions prior to the submission of the case to the jury in civil cases. See D. Anderson, Let Jurors Talk: Authorizing Pre-Deliberation Discussion of the Evidence During Trial, 174 Mil. L. Rev. 92 (2002) (discussing authorization for pre-deliberation discussion in civil cases in Arizona, Colorado, and District of Columbia).

In the case before it it was inadequate for the trial judge to give daily instructions to the jurors not to discuss the case with others, without specifically addressing discussions among jurors.