CR01-031 05/08/17

JUROR PROHIBITIONS, INCLUDING JUROR USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES

As jurors, your job will be to decide this case based solely on the evidence presented during the trial and the instructions that I will give you. The evidence at trial comes from the witnesses’ testimony and from any exhibits that are introduced. You may not seek out or use any outside material to learn more about this case.

You must not conduct any research or investigation. You must not refer to dictionaries; to medical, scientific, or technical publications; to religious books or materials; or to law books. You also must not seek or receive any information about this case from the internet, which includes Google, Wikipedia, blogs, and other web sites. Do not search for or receive any information about the parties, the lawyers, the witnesses, the judge, the evidence you will hear, or any place or location mentioned during the trial. Do not research the law. Do not look up the meaning of any words or phrases used during the trial. If necessary, I shall define the important words and phrases for you before you begin your deliberations.

Also, you are not allowed to visit any place or places involved in this case. If you normally travel through such a place, you should try to take a different route until after the trial is over. If you cannot take a different route, and you find yourself traveling through a place that is involved in this case, you must not stop or attempt to gather any information from that location.

If you violate these instructions by receiving outside information about this case, I might have to declare a mistrial, meaning that the trial would have to start over again with a new jury. If that happens, all of the parties’ work, my work, and your work on this trial will be wasted.

For the duration of the trial, until your jury service is complete, do not communicate with anyone, including family and friends, about the evidence or issues in this case. This prohibition applies to all forms of communication, including in-person conversation, written communication, phone calls, and electronic communication through any device. As examples, you must not communicate about this case using email, text messaging, Twitter, blogging, or social media such as Facebook. Also, you must not discuss the case amongst yourselves until your deliberations begin.

When court is not in session, you may communicate with others, but you may not communicate about this case. You may use the internet, but only for purposes that are not related to this case. You may tell others that you are on a jury and that you cannot talk about the case until the trial is over. You may tell others about the estimated schedule, but you may not tell them anything else about the case. If anyone tries to communicate with you about this case, you must stop the communication immediately and report it to the Court Officer. The Court Officer will then report it to me.